THE 

children's  city 


ESTHER  SINGLETON 


iEx  ICtbrtfi 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


~t '  'Fort  nieuu/  ^Irn/lerdam,  oj>  Je  Hanhatarus 


'When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  hook 

Because  it  has  heen  said 
"Ever'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/childrenscityOOsing_0 


Copyright.    The  Pictorial  News  Co. 


Curtis  flying  over  the  Statue  of  Liberty  at  the  end  of  his 
flight  from  Albany  to  New  York,  May,  1910. 


THE 

CHILDREN'S  CITY 


BY 

ESTHER  SINGLETON 

AUTHOR  OF  "DUTCH  NEW  YORK,"  "  SOCIAL  NEW  YORK  UNDER  THE 
GEORGES,"    "THE  GOLDEN  ROD  FAIRY  BOOK,"  ETC.,.  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


STURGIS  &  WALTON 

COMPANY 
1910 


Copyright  1910 
By  STURG1S  &  WALTON  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  November,  1910 


PREFACE 

This  little  book,  each  chapter  telling  of  one  of 
the  walks,  or  jaunts,  in  or  about  the  city,  of  two 
children  and  an  older  companion,  is  intended  to  help 
young  people,  their  governesses,  tutors,  or  mentors 
to  an  enjoyment  and  appreciation  of  the  pleasures 
of  New  York  that  are  free  to  all.  And  it  may 
serve  too,  as  a  guide  for  adults  who  would  become 
acquainted  at  first  hand  with  what  is  most  interest- 
ing and  most  easily  accessible  in  our  American 
metropolis.  In  it  attention  is  always  directed  to 
what  especially  appeals  to  young  eyes,  and  the  in- 
formation offered  is  of  the  kind  for  which  youthful 
minds  and  imaginations  have  naturally  a  keen  ap- 
petite. 

Opening  with  a  brief,  sketchy  account  of  Dutch, 
English,  and  Revolutionary  and  post-Revolutionary 
New  York,  the  chapters  that  follow  are  given  to 
excursions  by  land  and  water  in  which  the  historical 
landmarks  and  natural  beauties  of  the  city  are  the 
theme  —  trips  down  the  bay,  or  to  parks  and  pleas- 
ure-grounds ;  to  excursions  to  the  museums ;  to 
visits  to  the  Zoological  Park,  the  Botanical  Garden, 
the  Aquarium,  etc.,  etc. 

Many  generations  of  children  have  taken  their 
way  "  unwillingly  to  school  "  and  gained  knowledge 
in  dull  drudgery,  hearing  their  elders  unsympa- 
thetically  repeat :  "  There  is  no  royal  road  to 
learning."    At  the  present  day,  however,  parents 


PREFACE 


and  teachers  often  turn  work  into  play  by  smooth- 
ing the  rough  road  of  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  and 
making  education  a  pleasure  instead  of  a  toil.  One 
of  the  most  popular  as  well  as  successful  ways  of 
arousing  the  interest  of  children  in  what  they  should 
know  is  that  of  taking  them  individually,  or  in 
classes  to  galleries,  museums,  historic  sites,  and 
other  places  of  interest,  and  let  them  see  for  them- 
selves the  arts  and  crafts  of  the  human  brain  and 
hand,  and  the  wonders  of  Nature, —  animal,  vege- 
table and  mineral.  Children  are  inveterate  ques- 
tioners, and  the  answers  they  receive  and  the  objects 
to  which  their  attention  is  directed  often  leave  a 
more  lasting  impression  on  their  minds  than  the  les- 
sons they  learn  from  mere  text-books.  No  city  in 
America  offers  so  good  an  opportunity  for  a  liberal 
education  by  intelligent  observation  and  sympa- 
thetic description  as  New  York.  Though  it  has  no 
remote  historical  antiquities,  it  has  quite  a  respec- 
table age  of  three  centuries,  with  landmarks  of  the 
past  sure  to  kindle  children's  patriotism  if  pre- 
sented in  the  right  light  by  one  who  knows  about 
them.  And  its  galleries,  museums,  and  zoological 
and  botanical  exhibitions  are  of  the  first  value  and 
of  the  liveliest  interest  to  juvenile  visitors. 

In  taking  children  to  visit  museums  or  collections 
of  living  curiosities,  much  time  is  often  consumed 
in  pausing  long  in  front  of  objects  that  have  com- 
paratively little  interest  for  the  juvenile  mind,  be- 
fore moving  on  to  the  chief  attractions,  or  the  most 
valuable  possessions  of  the  special  exhibition. 
Therefore,  it  is  only  natural  that  fatigue  should 
conquer  the  mind  and  limbs  long  before  the  best 
exhibits  of  the  collection  have  been  visited. 

On  the  other  hand,  people  often  try  to  see  the 


PREFACE 


whole  of  a  great  collection  on  one  visit,  dragging 
the  poor  children  that  accompany  them  from  gal- 
lery to  gallery,  from  corridor  to  corridor,  or  from 
cage  to  cage,  trying  to  discover  what  they  take 
interest  in,  or,  what  is  worse,  trying  to  cram  them 
hurriedly  with  information  and  bewildering  their 
minds  with  too  many  impressions  too  rapidly  re- 
ceived. 

It  is  hoped  that  in  this  series  of  imaginary  outings 
of  two  children  and  their  companion,  some  hints 
may  be  found  for  other  children  who  would  like 
to  follow  in  their  footprints  and  see  and  enjoy  what 
this  city  offers  in  the  way  of  free  and  instructive 
pleasures. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  three  people  in  this  book 
always  start  out  in  an  unwearied  and  happy  mood, 
and  talk  about  what  they  see  in  a  perfectly  natural 
and  off-hand  manner;  and  that  the  cicerone  who 
takes  the  children  on  these  trips  does  not  attempt  to 
show  them  everything,  but  selects  only  the  most 
famous,  striking,  peculiar,  or  beautiful  objects  that 
are  offered  for  exhibition,  or  those  that  naturally 
and  particularly  attract  the  attention  of  the  chil- 
dren. 

In  several  cases,  it  would  require  much  endurance 
to  cover  all  the  ground  or  to  see  all  the  objects  al- 
lotted to  one  visit.  Those  who  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  Doodle  and  the  children,  will,  therefore, 
use  their  own  judgment  and  make  two  or  several 
visits  instead  of  one  as  described. 

The  illustrations  in  this  volume  will  tend  to  make 
prospective  juvenile  visitors  to  the  places  repre- 
sented eager  to  see  them,  and  will  serve  pleasantly 
to  recall  what  has  been  seen. 

I  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  Directors  of 


PREFACE 

the  Zoological  Park  for  valuable  information  most 
courteously  supplied,  to  the  Directors  of  the  New 
York  Botanical  Garden  and  of  the  American  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History  for  their  kind  permission 
to  reproduce  photographs ;  also  to  Munsey's  Maga- 
zine for  the  loan  of  the  old  prints  from  which  two 
of  the  illustrations  in  the  first  chapter  are  made,  and 
for  permission  to  reproduce  from  its  pages  the  view 
of  New  York  in  1740. 

E.  S. 

New  York,  October,  1910. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTORY 

In  Which  the  Reader  is  Introduced  to  Three  New 
Friends  Who  Have  Not  the  Slightest  Idea  That 
They  are  Being  Observed ;  and  in  Which  the  Au- 
thor and  Reader  Overhear  Their  Three  New 
Friends  Make  Plans  For  Some  Pleasant  Outings 
and  Learn  Something  About  the  Founding,  Growth 
and  Development  of  the  Wonderful  City  of  New 
York   1-28 

CHAPTER  II 
THE  AQUARIUM 

In  Which  jack,  Nora  and  Doodle  Visit  the  Aquarium 
and  See  Strange  Creatures  29-53 

CHAPTER  III 
CENTRAL  PARK 

In  Which  Doodle,  Jack,  and  Nora  Explore  Central 
Park   54-76 

CHAPTER  IV 
A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK 
PART  I 

In  Which  the  Long-Looked  For  Visit  at  Last  Takes 
Place;  Jack  and  Nora  Make  the  Acquaintance  of 
Many  Strange  Animals  and  Birds  and  Hear  Stories 
Regarding  Their  Habits  and  Character  ....  77-99 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  V 
'A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK 
PART  II 

In  Which  Doodle,  Jack  and  Nora  After  Lunching  at 
the  Rocking-Stone  Restaurant,  Visit  the  Reptiles, 
Small  Mammals,  More  Birds  and  Beasts,  and  See 
all  the  Latest  Styles  in  Zoological  Fashions  .    .    .  100-131 


CHAPTER  VI 
A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS 

In  Which  the  Happy  Trio  Spend  Several  Hours  in 
the  Conservatory  in  Bronx  Park  Seeing  Some  of 
the  Wonders  and  Beauties  of  Plant-Life  ....  132-151 


CHAPTER  VII 
A  PICNIC  BY  THE  WATERFALL 

In  Which  Jack  and  Nora  Enjoy  a  Feast  in  the  Hem- 
lock Forest  and  Learn  the  Queer  Habits  and  Out- 
rageous Conduct  of  Some  Members  of  the  Vegetable 
World;  After  a  Stroll  Through  the  Gardens  and 
the  Botanical  Museum,  Return  Home,  Quite  Tired 
After  a  Long  and  Happy  Day  152-162 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  VISIT   TO   THE   NATURAL  HISTORY 
MUSEUM 

In  Which  Nora,  Jack  and  Doodle  See  Some  Visitors 
From  the  Starry  Skies;  Curiosities  of  the  Savage 
Races ;  Articles  From  the  Neighbourhood  of  the 
North  Pole ;  Make  the  Acquaintance  of  Gigantic 
Monsters  of  Pre-Historic  Times;  and  See  Many 
Other  Things  of  Interest  163-193 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IX 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  METROPOLITAN 
MUSEUM 

In  Which  the  Children  See  Some  Wonderful  Works 
of  Man's  Hand;  Learn  of  Ancient  Countries  and 
Their  Arts ;  and  Become  Acquainted  With  Some 
Masterpieces  of  Architecture,  Sculpture  and  Paint- 
ing   194-231 


CHAPTER  X 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  PARKS 

In  Which  Doodle  Points  Out  the  Historical  Land- 
marks and  Delights  the  Children  With  Some 
Romantic  Stories  of  the  Hudson  River  Until  the 
Goblin  of  the  Dunderberg  Calls  up  a  Thunder- 
storm That  Sends  Them  Scurrying  Home  .    .    .  232-247 


CHAPTER  XI 


A  TRIP  TO  THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY 

In  Which  Jack  and  Nora  Enjoy  a  Blow  on  the  Bay; 
Visit  the  Eighth  Wonder  of  the  World ;  and  are 
Reminded  by  Doodle  That  the  Great  City  of  New 
York  Was  Once  the  Little  Town  of  New  Amster- 
dam   248-260 


APPENDIX 


Directions  For  Reaching  the  Museums  and  Other 
Points  of  Interest  Described  in  This  Book,  With 
Other  Useful  Information  261-266 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Curtis  Flying  over  the  Statue  of  Liberty,  May,  1910    .  . 
 Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

View  of  New  Amsterdam,  now  New  York  (after  Mon- 

tanus)   3 

Fort  George  and  the  town  of  Xew  York  from  the  South 

West  in  1740.  From  a  Lithograph  by  George  Hay  ward  .  14 
View  of  Broadway  in  1840,  between  Howard  and  Grand 

Streets.    From  a  Lithograph  by  George  Hay  ward  .    .  21 
New    York    To-Day.    View    from    Madison  Square. 
Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Building  in  the  centre. 
Flatiron  Building  on  the  right  and  Madison  Square 

Tower  on  the  left   28 

Aquarium  —  an  Interior  View   33 

Sea-Horses   48 

The  Mall,  Northern  End   53 

Map  of  Central  Park   58 

Bethesda  Fountain  and  the  Lake   60 

Baseball  in  Central  Park  —  a  Summer  Afternoon   ...  71 

The  Obelisk   74 

Map  of  the  Zoological  Park   79 

Baird  Court   83 

Dreaming  of  the  Wild   87 

Flying-Cage   9° 

Gunda   94 

A  Shower  Bath  for  the  Ostriches   117 

The  Nubian  Giraffes   124 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING  PAGE 

General  Plan  of  Botanical  Gardens  133 

Court  of  the  Public  Conservatories  149 

The  Waterfall  in  Hemlock  Grove  156 

The  Museum  Building  161 

The  American  Museum  of  Natural  History    .    .    .  .167 

Hall  of  North  American  Ethnology  170 

Eskimo  Woman  Fishing  through  the  Ice  176 

The  Allosaurus  and  the  Brontosaurus  188 

North  American  Waterfowl  193 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  197 

Hall  of  Casts  204 

Plan  of  the  First  Floor  208 

Plan  of  the  Second  Floor  213 

Friedland,  1807  220 

The  Horse  Fair  231 

Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine  overlooking  Morning- 
side   Park.    From  a   Photograph  by  Mr.  Lewis  W. 

Davidson  234 

A  Vista  of  Riverside  Park  and  Grant's  Tomb.  Captain 
Tom  Baldwin  is  sailing  in  his  dirigible  balloon  over 
the  English   Battleship  Drake.    From  a  Photograph 
Taken  during  the  Hudson-Fulton  Celebration    .    .    .  241 
View  of  New  York  from  the  Harbour  256 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTORY 

IN  WHICH  THE  READER  IS  INTRODUCED  TO  THREE 
NEW  FRIENDS  WHO  HAVE  NOT  THE  SLIGHTEST 
IDEA  THAT  THEY  ARE  BEING  OBSERVED;  AND  IN 
WHICH  THE  AUTHOR  AND  READER  OVERHEAR 
THEIR  THREE  NEW  FRIENDS  MAKE  PLANS  FOR 
SOME  PLEASANT  OUTINGS  AND  LEARN  SOMETHING 
ABOUT  THE  FOUNDING,  GROWTH  AND  DEVELOP- 
MENT OF  THE  WONDERFUL  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 

It  was  four  o'clock.  The  study  door  opened,  and 
in  came  Jack  and  Nora  on  their  daily  visit  to  their 
much-loved  Doodle. 

Doodle  was  a  relative, —  whether  an  uncle  or  an 
aunt  I  will  leave  you  to  guess;  and,  although  a 
Grown-Up,  was  so  perfectly  satisfactory  to  Jack 
and  Nora  that  this  unfortunate  failing  was  for- 
given, and  occasionally  overlooked  entirely.  Some- 
times they  wished  that  Doodle  had  not  leaped  the 
mysterious  barrier  that  divides  romantic  childhood 
from  that  cold,  unsympathetic,  peculiar  and  utterly 
commonplace  world  where  most  Grown-Ups  dwell. 
It  would  have  been  even  nicer  if  Doodle  had  waited 
until  old  Father  Time  should  force  them  to  leave 
the  pleasant  Valley  of  Childhood,  where  the  flowers 

I 


2  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


are  always  blooming  and  the  birds  are  always 
singing,  and  been  of  their  own  delightful  age 
(Jack  was  ten  and  Nora  nine),  but  they  made  the 
most  of  the  sad  circumstance,  and  enjoyed  as 
much  of  Doodle's  society  as  the  latter  could  afford 
to  give  them,  charitably  overlooking  Doodle's  rare 
but  occasional  lapses  and  back-slidings  from  their 
golden  world. 

Four  o'clock  was  a  longed-for  hour,  for  then  they 
had  the  privilege  of  coming  to  the  study  for  a  de- 
lightful hour  with  Doodle.  One  day  they  would 
read  a  story  together  or  they  would  each  tell  a 
story  of  their  own;  one  day  they  would  have  a 
little  chat  or  chatter;  another  day  they  would  play 
a  game  of  some  kind  for  which  pencils  and  paper 
were  required ;  and  on  another  occasion  they  would 
paint  or  draw;  but  whatever  they  did  was  always 
pleasurable.  Sometimes  they  would  find  Doodle 
busy  arranging  that  enormous  desk,  so  full  of 
mysterious  pigeon-holes  and  drawers  containing  so 
many  envelopes,  neatly  labelled  and  filled  with  scraps 
of  writing  and  countless  tracings  and  pictures  of 
all  sizes  and  kinds.  That  desk  was  a  treasure- 
house.  No  genie's  cave  was  ever  more  mysterious 
or  richer  with  gems  unseen ;  —  buried  in  the  dark 
depths.  Then  Doodle's  books  were  also  fascin- 
ating—  they  always  answered  every  question 
Nora  and  Jack  asked.  Many  of  them  were  illus- 
trated, too,  with  beautifully  coloured  plates,  or 
quaint  old-fashioned  wood-cuts.  Doodle's  den  was 
an  ideal  place,  indeed. 

"  I  was  wondering  as  you  came  in,"  said  Doodle, 
u  if  you  two  children,  who  have  lived  all  your  lives 
in  New  York,  really  know  anything  about  this  great 
city.    You  are  at  home  in  Fifth  Avenue,  Broadway, 


INTRODUCTORY 


3 


Battery  Park,  Twenty-third  street,  Forty-second 
street,  the  upper  West  side  and  many  side  streets 
up-town  and  down-town,  and  you  travel  in  the 
Elevated  and  the  Subway  and  know  all  the  sights 
and  sounds  of  the  streets;  but  I  wonder  if  you  are 
really  acquainted  with  New  York?  " 
There  was  a  pause. 

"  Do  you  know  that  New  York  is  one  of  the 
largest,  richest  and  most  wonderful  cities  in  the 
world?" 

"  Oh  yes,  we  know  that  very  well,"  answered  the 
children  together;  and  here  before  going  any  fur- 
ther I  must  explain  that  Jack  and  Nora  frequently 
spoke  in  the  plural.  It  was  generally  "  we  "  and 
"  us " ;  for  they  had  always  shared  each  other's 
studies  and  pleasures. 

"  I  wonder  if  you  know  New  York's  history,  or 
if  you  have  ever  visited  any  of  the  buildings  and 
places  connected  with  the  past!  Do  you  know  the 
City  Hall?  Fraunces  Tavern?  Trinity  Church? 
St.  Paul's?  St.  Mark's?  Can  you  tell  me  any- 
thing about  the  Battery?  Do  you  know  how  the 
Bowery  got  its  name?  Why  Bowling-Green  was 
called  Bowling-Green?  Do  you  know  where  Gen- 
eral Washington  bade  farewell  to  his  army? 
Where  he  was  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States?  Do  you  know  anything  about  Fort  Am- 
sterdam and  Fort  George?  " 

To  all  these  questions  the  children  shook  their 
heads. 

"  Well  then,  have  you  enjoyed  the  many  pleas- 
ures that  our  great  city  offers  to  all  —  rich  and  poor, 
young  and  old  —  alike  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Doodle?  " 

"  I  mean  this:    Have  you  ever  been  to  the  Met- 


4  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


ropolitan  Museum?  To  the  Natural  History  Mu- 
seum? To  the  Aquarium?  To  the  Zoological 
Park?  To  the  Botanical  Gardens?  Have  you 
walked  through  Central  Park  with  your  eyes  really 
open  ?  " 

"  No,"  was  the  answer  to  all  these  questions. 

"  Then  how  would  you  like  to  take  some  pleas- 
ant outings  with  me,  so  that  we  may  learn  some- 
thing about  our  city.  The  bright,  spring  days  have 
come.  What  do  you  say  to  a  little  jaunt  once  a 
week?" 

"Do  you  really  mean  it?"  came  from  both  de- 
lighted children. 

"  Indeed  I  do,"  answered  Doodle. 

"  Shall  we  begin  to-morrow  ?  "  asked  Jack  and 
Nora. 

"  No ;  not  to-morrow.  Not  until  next  Monday ; 
for  I  want  to  tell  you  something  about  old  New 
York  before  we  start  on  our  excursions.  I  want 
to  give  you  an  idea  of  what  our  city  was  like  at  va- 
rious periods.  I  want  to  tell  you  about  Dutch  New 
York;  English  New  York;  New  York  in  the  days 
of  the  Revolution;  and  New  York  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century." 

"  Can't  you  tell  us  now  ?  "  asked  the  children 
eagerly. 

Dutch  New  York. 

"  Of  course  I  can,"  replied  Doodle  leaving  the 
desk  and  taking  a  comfortable  chair.  "  Nora,  you 
can  sit  on  my  knee,  and  Jack,  you  can  bring  a  chair 
for  yourself;  but  first  hand  me  the  atlas.  Turn  to 
the  map  of  the  world,  Jack,  and  find  New  York. 
Now  look  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  ocean 
and  find  Holland.    It  is  a  long  distance  away  from 


INTRODUCTORY 


5 


us,  isn't  it?  More  than  three  thousand  miles! 
Now,  Nora,  you  please  turn  to  the  map  of  Holland; 
and  put  your  finger,  if  you  please,  on  Amsterdam. 
You  will  notice  that  this  city  lies  on  a  big  sheet  of 
water  called  the  Zuyder  Zee ;  or,  to  be  more  exact, 
it  lies  on  an  arm  of  the  Zuyder  Zee  called  the  Y 
(pronounced  eye). 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  Seventeenth  Century 
Amsterdam  was  a  very  rich  and  splendid  city  — 
one  of  the  very  richest  cities  in  Europe.  She  was 
such  an  important  port  that  she  was  often  called 
'  Queen  of  the  Seas.'  A  merchant  vessel  was  her 
seal  and  her  harbour  was  always  full  of  ships  arriv- 
ing and  departing  for  countries  near  and  far.  Am- 
sterdam contained  fine  old  churches  and  public 
buildings  and  many  of  her  canals  were  lined  on  both 
sides  with  the  homes  of  rich  citizens.  These 
were  filled  with  splendid  furniture,  beautiful  paint- 
ings, rare  pieces  of  porcelain,  delicate  specimens  of 
glass,  articles  of  silver  and  gold,  artistically  worked, 
fine  Turkey  rugs  and  carpets  and  many  curiosities 
from  the  Far  East.  The  Dutch  were  always  great 
sailors  and  explorers,  and  they  were  among  the  first 
to  trade  with  China  and  Japan.  The  Exchange  in 
Amsterdam  was  a  world  famous  money-market  and 
the  celebrated  Bank  of  Amsterdam,  established  in 
1609,  was  almost  as  rich  and  important  as  the  Bank 
of  England.  In  1602  the  merchants  of  Amsterdam 
founded  the  East  India  Company  to  regulate  all 
matters  of  foreign  trade ;  and  among  the  many  per- 
sons this  company  employed  was  an  Englishman, 
named  Henry  Hudson,  whom  they  sent  out  in  1609 
to  see  if  he  could  find  a  new  way  to  reach  the  East 
Indies  by  a  northwest  passage.  I  suppose  I  need 
not  tell  you  that  this  boat  was  named  — 


6  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  The  Half  Moon!  "  exclaimed  Nora.  "  We  saw 
it  last  September  at  the  Hudson-Fulton  Celebra- 
tion/' 

"  No,  dear,  you  did  not  see  the  Half  Moon,  you 
saw  a  reproduction  of  it;  but  I  am  glad  you  saw 
this  boat,  for  I  need  not  describe  it.  Well,  let  us 
go  on.  The  crew  that  Henry  Hudson  commanded 
consisted  of  from  sixteen  to  twenty  men,  some  of 
whom  were  Dutch  and  some  English. 

"  On  the  first  of  September,  1609,  Hudson  beheld 
the  Highlands  of  Navesink,  which  he  described  as 
'  very  good  land  to  fall  in  with  and  a  pleasant  land  to 
see.'  The  next  day  he  sailed  around  what  we  now 
call  Sandy  Hook;  and  on  the  day  after  that  he 
anchored  in  the  bay  off  the  Jersey  shore.  On  the 
6th  of  September,  he  sent  a  little  boat  out  to  explore 
the  coast.  She  passed  through  the  Narrows  and 
came  in  sight  of  Manhattan  Island;  but,  sad  to  re- 
late, the  boat  was  attacked  by  two  canoes  filled  with 
Indians  and  one  of  the  party,  named  John  Coleman, 
was  instantly  killed  by  an  arrow  that  pierced  his 
throat. 

"  Five  days  later  Hudson  took  the  Half  Moon 
through  the  Narrows  and  anchored  in  New  York 
Harbour,  where  he  was  visited  by  the  Indians  who 
brought  presents  of  Indian  corn  and  tobacco,  beads 
and  other  strange  things.  On  September  12,  Hud- 
son sailed  up  the  river,  which  now  bears  his  name, 
as  far  as  Albany.  He  sailed  on  October  4th  for 
Holland ;  and  as  soon  as  he  reached  Amsterdam  and 
reported  his  great  discovery,  describing  in  glowing 
terms  the  noble  river  and  the  fertile  country 
covered  with  beautiful  trees,  grass  and  flowers, 
the  abundance  of  the  grain  and  vegetables  pro- 
duced by  the  Indians,  and,  better  than  all,  the  pro- 


INTRODUCTORY 


7 


fusion  of  furs  to  be  had,  the  merchants  of  Am- 
sterdam agreed  that  the  new  country  offered  every 
advantage  for  settlers  and  traders  that  could  be  de- 
sired. So  they  were  not  very  long,  you  may  believe, 
in  fitting  out  trading  vessels  and  hurrying  them  to 
Manhattan  for  more  detailed  reports.  When  these 
came  back  with  good  accounts,  the  Amsterdam  mer- 
chants made  arrangements  to  establish  an  agency 
on  Manhattan  Island  and  to  send  ships  regularly 
back  and  forth.  The  little  trading-post  now  estab- 
lished on  the  south  point  of  the  Island  commanded 
by  Hendrick  Corstiaensen,  soon  increased  in  num- 
bers and  was  formed  into  the  United  New  Nether- 
land  Company. 

"  In  the  meantime,  the  merchants  and  bankers  in 
Holland  formed  in  the  year  1621  a  great  association 
called  the  West  India  Company  to  settle  all  matters 
of  trade  and  government,  treaties  with  the  Indians 
and  all  questions  that  might  arise  with  regard  to  the 
government  of  the  new  colony.  In  1623  the  West 
India  Company  sent  out  its  first  boat,  the  New  Neth- 
erlands. She  brought  thirty  families,  who  were 
landed  near  the  present  site  of  Albany  where  they 
made  a  settlement.  The  New  Nctherland  returned 
in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  with  500  otter  skins, 
1500  beavers  and  other  freight  worth  about  $12,000 
—  a  big  sum  in  those  days.  This  staunch  old  boat, 
the  New  Nctherland,  went  backwards  and  forwards 
between  Old  Amsterdam  and  New  Amsterdam  for 
thirty  years! 

"  It  was  soon  decided  that  the  headquarters 
should  be  on  Manhattan  Island ;  and  ships  were  sent 
out  with  settlers  and  their  families  who  were  sup- 
plied with  horses,  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  seeds,  farming- 
tools,  household  furniture  and  other  necessities  for 


8  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


making  a  permanent  colony.  Altogether,  about  200 
persons  came. 

"  In  1626  the  Sea  Mew  brought  among  its  passen- 
gers Peter  Minuit,  whom  the  West  India  Company 
sent  out  to  be  the  Director-General,  or  Governor,  of 
the  settlement.  The  first  thing  that  Peter  Minuit 
did  was  to  buy  the  Island  of  Manhattan  from 
the  Manhattan  Indians;  what  do  you  think  he  paid 
for  it?" 

"  Millions  and  millions  of  dollars,"  Jack  quickly 
answered. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it !  Sixty  guilders  —  that  is  twen- 
ty-four dollars!  Think  of  it  —  the  whole  of  Man- 
hattan Island  (about  22,000  acres)  for  only  twenty- 
four  dollars !  " 

"  What  would  the  Dutch  have  to  pay  for  it  to- 
day, Doodle,"  asked  Jack,  "  if  they  could  buy  it 
from  us?  " 

"  About  four  and  a  half  billions  of  dollars,  I 
should  say,"  answered  Doodle.  "  Well,  let  us  go 
on  with  our  story. 

"  The  Arms  of  Amsterdam  was  another  boat  that 
was  sent  out  in  1626.  She  returned  to  Amsterdam 
with  a  great  many  skins  of  beaver,  otter  and  mink, 
and  a  great  deal  of  timber ;  and,  best  of  all,  carried 
the  news  that  Peter  Minuit  had  bought  the  Island 
of  Manhattan  for  the  Dutch. 

"  The  colonists  now  made  a  fort,  which  they 
named  Fort  Amsterdam ;  and  then  they  built  a  mill 
which  was  worked  by  horse.  The  second  floor 
of  the  mill  they  arranged  . for  a  meeting-place  where 
they  could  have  religious  services;  for  the  Dutch 
were  always  very  religious  and  great  church-going 
people. 

"  The  Company's  House  was  a  stone  building 


INTRODUCTORY 


9 


with  a  thatched  roof ;  but  the  dwelling-houses  of  the 
settlers  grouped  around  it,  were  of  wood.  Fort 
Amsterdam  was  finished  in  1628.  In  this  year  the 
colony  numbered  270  persons,  including  children. 

"  The  West  India  Company  gave  to  each  settler 
a  farm,  stocked  with  cattle,  and  allowed  him  garden 
seeds  and  tools ;  and  for  this  the  tenant  had  to  pay 
a  portion  of  his  profits.  Just  as  a  flame  will  spread 
from  one  blade  of  grass  to  another  until  a  whole 
field  is  burning,  so  the  enthusiasm  for  emigration 
spread,  and  ship  after  ship  left  Amsterdam  crowded 
with  passengers  and  packed  with  cattle  and  sup- 
plies. 

"  On  one  of  the  quays  in  the  harbor  of  Amster- 
dam you  can  see  to-day  an  old  round  stone  tower 
that  was  built  five  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  called 
the  *  Weepers'  Tower  '  (the  Dutch  name  is  Schreyer- 
storen),  because  from  it  people  were  accustomed 
to  wave  their  tearful  farewells  to  friends  on  depart- 
ing ships ;  and  from  it  many  and  many  with  aching 
heart  and  tearful  eye  have  watched  the  vessels  sail 
out  into  the  Zuyder  Zee  on  their  long  voyage  to 
New  Amsterdam  in  the  unknown  western  world. 
The  Atlantic  trip  was  full  of  dangers ;  and  the  new 
colony  held  many  hardships,  privations  and  perils 
in  store  for  those  who  had  decided  to  brave  the  ter- 
rors of  the  sea  and  seek  their  fortunes  in  a  new 
world.  In  family  partings  hearts  beat  with  the 
same  emotions  three  hundred  years  ago  as  they 
do  to-day  and  those  who  stood  on  the  Weepers' 
Tower  and  watched  the  Arms  of  Amsterdam,  or 
the  New  Netherlands  or  the  Sea  Mew,  or  the  Gilded 
Fox,  bearing  their  loved  ones  away,  wept  long  and 
bitterly  before  they  could  go  back  to  their  daily 
duties  and  daily  pleasures.    And  remember,  too, 


io  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


how  long,  how  very,  very  long  it  was  in  those  days 
before  they  could  hear  any  news  of  the  good  ship!  " 

"  How  long  did  it  take  to  get  here  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  The  voyage  lasted  from  seven  to  eight  weeks, 
and  the  travellers  were  more  than  glad  when  their 
boat  passed  through  the  Hoof  den  (as  they  called 
the  Narrows)  and  approached  the  little  settlement. 
The  people  on  Manhattan  were  glad,  too,  to  hear 
news  from  home,  to  welcome  friends  and  relatives 
who  had  been  induced  to  join  them,  and  to  re- 
ceive supplies;  so,  whenever  a  ship  was  seen  in 
the  distance,  they  raised  a  flag  on  the  tall  flag- 
staff of  Fort  Amsterdam  in  greeting." 

"  Where  did  the  boats  land  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  The  anchorage  ground  was  the  roadstead  be- 
tween Kapske  Point  (South  Ferry)  and  the  head 
of  Coenties  Slip  near  the  City  Tavern  on  the  East 
River;  and  ships  that  landed  anywhere  else  were 
compelled  to  pay  a  fine." 

"  The  town  was  soon  laid  out  in  streets  and 
lots  and  cut  through  with  canals.  It  was  also  pro- 
tected by  a  strong  palisade  with  gates  that  were 
shut  at  night;  and,  in  case  of  an  attack  by  the 
Indians,  everybody  could  seek  refuge  behind  the 
walls  of  the  Fort.  The  houses  were  built  along 
the  lines  of  the  Fort  and  the  river  shore,  which 
extended  to  Pearl  Street  and  from  Whitehall  to 
Broad.    It  was  called  the  Strand. 

"  There  was  also  a  road  from  the  Fort  to  the 
Ferry,  which  crossed  to  Brooklyn,  and  a  stockade  at 
Wall  Street,  where  the  city  ended. 

"  Some  of  the  houses  were  built  of  brick  and 
stone  with  tiled  roofs  and  some  were  of  wood 
with  brick  chimneys. 

"  Would  you  like  it  if  an  old  Dutch  traveller 


INTRODUCTORY 


II 


could  suddenly  come  into  this  room  and  tell  us 
how  the  city  looked  when  he  saw  it  more  than 
three  hundred  years  ago?" 

"  Oh,  indeed,  I  should!"  cried  Jack. 

"Indeed,  I  shouldn't!"  cried  Nora.  "  I'm 
afraid  of  ghosts !  " 

"  Well  I  am  going  to  ask  him  to  come.  Nora, 
your  eyes  need  not  grow  so  round  and  you  need 
not  look  at  me  so  questioningly.  Jack,  open  the 
third  drawer  of  my  desk  and  hand  me  that  large 
yellow  envelope  marked  New  York  Seventeenth 
Century.    Ah!  here  is  what  I  want. 

"  Here  is  a  note  from  an  old  traveller,  named 
Montanus,  who  came  to  New  Amsterdam  and  was 
much  delighted  with  all  that  he  saw.  Now  Jack 
suppose  you  read  what  he  has  to  say  about  the  city 
as  it  was  in  1671 ;  and  for  the  moment  we  will  im- 
agine that  you  are  Mr.  Montanus." 

Jack  obligingly  consented  and  read  as  follows : 

"  '  On  the  Manhattan's  Island  stands  New  Am- 
sterdam, five  miles  from  the  ocean :  ships  run  up 
to  the  harbour  there  from  the  sea  with  one  tide. 
The  city  hath  an  earthen  fort.  Within  the  fort  and 
on  the  outermost  bastion  towards  the  river,  stand 
a  windmill  and  a  very  high  staff,  on  which  a  flag 
is  hoisted  whenever  any  vessels  are  seen  in  Godyn's 
Bay.  The  church  rises  with  a  double  roof  be- 
tween which  a  square  tower  looms  aloft.  On 
one  side  is  the  prison,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
church,  the  Governor's  house.  Without  the  walls 
are  the  houses  mostly  built  by  the  Amsterdamers. 
On  the  river  side  stand  the  gallows  and  the  whip- 
ping-post. A  handsome  public  tavern  adorns  the 
farthest  point.  Between  the  fort  and  this  tavern 
is  a  row  of  suitable  dwelling-houses :  among  which 


12  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


stand  out  the  warehouses  of  the  West  India 
Company.'  " 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Montanus,"  said  Doodle, 
"  Now  I  will  tell  the  rest. 

"  The  houses  were  built  in  the  quaint  style  of 
those  at  home  with  crow-stepped  roofs,  pointed 
gables  and  dormer  windows  and  the  sills  and 
gardens  were  bright  with  flowers.  Of  course  they 
had  tulips  (you  know  the  Dutch  were  crazy  about 
tulips)  and  gilliflowers  and  red  and  white  roses 
and  lilies  and  violets  and  all  the  native  flowers 
they  found  here  —  sunflowers  and  red  and  white 
lilies  and  morning-glories, —  and  all  the  native 
vegetables. and  fruits.  Behind  many  of  the  houses 
were  splendid  orchards  of  peaches,  pears  and  ap- 
ples. The  West  India  Company  had  a  large  gar- 
den on  Broadway  not  far  from  the  Fort,  which  was 
cultivated  by  the  Company's  negroes. 

"  You  sometimes  hear  that  the  Dutch  lived  very 
simply  and  poorly  in  the  early  days  of  New 
Amsterdam.  Of  course  this  was  true  of  the  poor 
people,  the  small  farmers,  the  servants  and  the 
workmen;  but  the  wealthy  colonists  had  everything 
in  their  houses  here  that  their  rich  relatives  had 
in  old  Amsterdam. 

"  Their  homes  were  filled  with  fine  furniture  — 
rich  ebony  chairs;  chairs  covered  with  leather  and 
made  comfortable  with  cushions;  East  India 
cabinets  full  of  curiosities;  great  nutwood  cases, 
or  wardrobes,  called  hasten,  in  which  they  kept 
their  clothes  and  treasures;  and  cupboards  with 
glass  doors,  filled  with  china  from  the  East  and 
blue  and  white  flowered  ware  from  Holland. 
Bright  curtains  draped  the  beds  and  hung  at  the 
windows;  the  tables  were  covered  with  Turkey 


INTRODUCTORY 


13 


rugs;  looking-glasses  brightened  the  walls;  and 
many  families  had  large  collections  of  paintings. 
So  you  see  there  were  wealth,  style  and  ele- 
gance in  New  York  from  its  earliest  days. 

"  New  Amsterdam  was  also  a  town  of  pleasure. 
The  old  Dutch  burghers  and  their  families  did  more 
than  smoke  their  pipes  and  knit  their  socks  as 
some  people  would  have  us  believe.  They  had 
wedding-feasts  and  christening-parties;  they  went 
to  church  in  rich  attire,  carrying  silver-clasped 
Bibles  in  their  hands;  they  had  sleighing  and  skat- 
ing in  the  winter  and  picnic  parties  in  the  summer; 
games  and  masquerades  at  Shrovetide;  May-poles 
and  many  games  in  the  spring;  frolics*  at  Whit- 
suntide ;  bonfires  on  St.  Martin's  Eve ;  cattle-markets 
and  fairs  in  the  autumn;  hunting,  fishing,  bowling 
and  golfing;  archery  matches;  and  special  feasting 
and  fun  at  Christmas,  New  Year's  Day  and 
Twelfth  Night.  The  greatest  holiday  of  all,  how- 
ever, was  December  6, —  St.  Nicholas  Day.  St. 
Nicholas,  patron  of  sailors  and  patron  of  old 
Amsterdam,  was  chosen  to  be  the  patron  saint  of 
New  Amsterdam.  The  church  in  the  fort  was  St. 
Nicholas's  Church,  and  St.  Nicholas's  Day,  or  Eve 
rather,  was  the  favourite  of  all  holidays.  This  was 
the  time  they  made  the  special  St.  Nicholas  cakes 
and  the  marchpane  and  gilded  the  nuts  and  put 
their  little  wooden  shoes  (not  stockings)  but 
wooden  shoes  by  the  chimney  for  St.  Nicholas  to 
fill.  And  St.  Nicholas  never  made  a  mistake.  To 
the  good  children  he  brought  presents  and  sweet 
meats  and  nice  surprises;  and  to  the  naughty  ones 
—  I  hardly  like  to  tell  you, —  guess  I  You  can't? 
Well,  then, —  a  switch!" 


14  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


English  New  York 

"  One  day  in  1664  an  English  vessel  arrived  in 
the  harbour  with  an  armed  force  under  Colonel 
Nicholls,  who  demanded  the  surrender  of  New 
Amsterdam  to  him  as  the  representative  of  the 
Duke  of  York,  the  brother  of  Charles  the  Second, 
King  of  England.  The  English  claimed  the  prov- 
ince by  right  of  earlier  discovery  than  the  Dutch  and 
Charles  the  Second  had  granted  it  to  his  brother, 
James.  The  Dutch  Governor,  Stuyvesant,  un- 
willingly submitted  on  finding  that  the  city,  as  a 
whole,  was  favourable  to  the  change. 

"  The  Dutch  flag  was  hauled  down,  and  the  Eng- 
lish flag  raised  in  its  place  over  the  Fort,  which 
was  now  re-named  Fort  James,  and  the  name  of  the 
town  was  changed  to  New  York. 

"  New  York  continued  to  be  an  important  trade 
centre :  its  merchants  at  this  time  were  of  several 
nationalities.  In  1712,  the  population  numbered 
5,816, —  Dutch,  French,  English,  Portuguese, 
Jews  and  negroes.  In  1720,  a  free  grammar 
school  was  opened;  in  1725,  the  first  newspaper  — 
the  Nezv  York  Gazette  —  was  established,  and  in 
1729  a  city  library  was  founded.  In  1731,  the 
population  numbered  8,882.  In  1744,  there  were 
1,141  houses,  and  in  175 1,  2059  houses. 

"  In  1753,  New  York  was  described  as  being 
about  a  mile  long  and  half  a  mile  broad,  '  the  most 
splendid  town  on  the  Continent.'  The  streets  were 
paved  and  the  chief  streets  were  planted  with  trees 
so  thickly  that  to  walk  about  the  town  seemed  like 
walking  in  a  garden.  The  water-beeches,  elms, 
locust  trees  and  the  sweet-scented  lindens,  were 
filled  with  birds  and  the  tree-frogs  amazed  all  the 


INTRODUCTORY 


l5 


foreign  visitors.  The  houses  were  of  brick  several 
stories  high,  with  their  gable  ends  turned  towards 
the  street,  and  their  roofs  covered  with  tiles  or 
shingles.  Many  of  them  had  a  balcony  on  the  roof 
where  people  sat  in  the  summer  evenings  to  enjoy 
the  view  of  the  river  and  harbour.  The  city  was 
built  more  thickly  on  the  East  River.  West  of 
Broadway,  between  Dye  and  Warren  Streets,  was 
situated  the  King's  Farm;  and  facing  the  King's 
Farm,  on  the  other  side  of  Broadway,  was  the 
Common,  or  Park.  Beyond  this  was  a  lake  called 
the  Fresh  Water,  or  Collect,  from  which  a  canal 
(afterwards  Canal  Street),  carried  its  waters  to 
the  Hudson. 

"  The  old  City  Hall,  formerly  the  Dutch  Stadt 
Huys,  at  Coenties  Slip,  was  given  up  in  1699,  and  a 
new  City  Hall  was  built  in  Wall  Street. 

"  In  1766,  New  York  contained  3,223  houses. 
The  line  of  palisades,  around  the  northern  end  of 
the  town,  starting  from  James  and  Cherry  Streets 
and  running  across  Duane  and  Pearl  Streets  south 
of  the  Fresh  Water  and  north  of  Warren  Street, 
was  strengthened  with  three  block-houses  having 
six  port  holes  for  cannon.  The  four  gates  were 
in  Pearl  Street,  Chatham  Square,  Broadway  and 
Greenwich  Street.  The  Ferries  were  Peck  Slip  to 
the  Fulton  Ferry  in  Brooklyn,  Coenties,  Whitehall, 
Burling  and  Beekman  on  the  East  side;  but  there 
was  only  one  on  the  Hudson  side, —  at  the  foot  of 
Oswego  (Liberty)  Street.  There  were  also  ferries 
to  Perth  Amboy,  Powles  Hook  and  Staten  Island. 
Stages  carried  the  mails  and  passengers  twice  a 
week  to  Boston,  three  times  a  week  to  Philadel- 
phia and  once  a  week  to  Albany;  and  packet-boats 
went  regularly  about  once  a  month  between  New 


1 6  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


York  and  Falmouth.  The  harbour  was  full  of  trad- 
ing vessels,  for  the  majority  of  the  wealthy  citizens 
were  interested  in  the  shipping  business,  and  many 
of  the  merchants  imported  goods  on  their  own  ac- 
count. 

"  The  principal  front  of  the  city  faced  Long  Is- 
land, the  most  important  building  was  Fort  George, 
the  walls  of  which  extended  from  the  present 
Greenwich  Street  and  Battery  Place  to  Whitehall 
and  Front  Streets.  The  southern  end  was  built  on 
rocks  at  the  water's  edge.  The  Governor's  House 
stood  within  the  walls  on  the  site  now  occupied  by 
the  Custom  House. 

"  There  was  a  large  open  space  in  front  of  the 
Fort,  which  was  called  The  Parade,  because  the 
soldiers  drilled  there.  In  1732,  the  Corporation 
leased  '  a  piece  of  land  lying  at  the  lower  end  of 
Broadway,  fronting  the  Fort  to  some  of  the  inhab- 
itants in  order  to  be  enclosed  to  make  a  Bowling 
Green  there,  with  walks  therein,  for  the  beauty  and 
ornament  of  said  street  as  well  as  for  the  delight 
of  the  inhabitants  of  this  city/  It  was  leased  to 
Peter  Bayard,  Peter  Jay  and  John  Chambers  for 
eleven  years  at  the  rent  of  one  pepper-corn  a  year! 

"  The  lower  part  of  Broadway  being  near  the  Fort 
was  a  very  fashionable  district.  On  what  is  now 
the  corner  of  Battery  Park  and  Broadway,  Captain 
Kennedy,  the  naval  commander  and  Collector  of 
the  Port,  built  a  fine  mansion  in  1760.  The  shady 
street  leading  from  this  point  to  Trinity  Church 
was  built  with  handsome  residences  and  called  the 
Mall. 

"  Another  fashionable  street,  was  Pearl.  On  the 
corner  of  Broad  and  Pearl  Street,  stood  and  still 
stands  Fraunces  Tavern! 


INTRODUCTORY 


17 


"  Broad  Street,  originally  a  marsh  through  which 
the  Dutch  had  made  a  canal,  was  crossed  by  a 
bridge  at  its  foot,  that  gave  its  name  to  Bridge 
Street.  This  was  one  of  the  principal  landing 
places  for  vessels.  King's  Bridge  over  the  Harlem 
river  was  the  only  bridge  connecting  New  York 
with  the  mainland  until  1759  when  Free  Bridge 
Dyckman's,  a  little  to  the  south  of  it,  was  opened. 

"  There  was  another  little  bridge  which  I  must 
tell  you  about  —  the  *  Kissing-Bridge,'  over  De 
Voor's  mill  stream  (Fifty-third  street  between  Sec- 
ond and  Third  Avenues)  which  got  its  name  be- 
cause it  was  the  custom  for  a  lady's  escort  to  kiss 
her  when  they  drove  across.  The  custom  dated 
from  the  Dutch;  but  the  English  liked  the  idea  so 
much  that  they  kept  it  up.  The  old  Boston  Post 
Road  passed  over  it  and  the  Kissing-Bridge  did 
not  disappear  until  i860." 

"  I  think  that  was  a  horrid  custom,"  said  Nora, 
pouting. 

"  /  don't,"  said  Jack  airily,  "  it  must  have  been 
lots  of  fun  to  tease  the  girls." 

"  Georgie  Porgie,  Pudding  and  Pie,  kissed  the 
girls  and  made  them  cry,"  sang  Nora, — "  that's 
what  you  want  to  do." 

Doodle,  taking  no  notice  of  the  interruption,  con- 
tinued : 

"  The  great  centre  for  business  was  Hanover 
Square  where  many  of  the  rich  merchants  had  their 
counting-houses.  A  good  many  business  men,  then 
as  now,  had  country  seats  on  Long  Island,  Staten 
Island  and  on  the  Jersey  shore  and  came  to  town 
by  boat  to  do  business  for  a  few  hours  each  day. 
Some  of  the  best  families,  too,  had  shops  of  their 
own  and  business  offices  in,  or  near,  their  dwellings. 


18  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  The  gardens  of  the  country-seats  were  beau- 
tifully laid  out  in  the  Dutch,  French,  English, 
Italian,  or  Chinese  style,  according  to  the  fashion 
of  the  time  and  taste  of  the  owners;  and  were  orna- 
mented with  shrubs,  flower-beds,  urns,  vases,  grotto- 
work,  pavilions,  summer-houses,  mazes,  colonnades, 
arcades  and  greenhouses. 

"  The  houses  contained  everything  in  the  way  of 
fine  furniture  that  you  can  think  of.  The  tables 
were  splendidly  set  and  served ;  the  servants  wore 
livery;  and  many  people  owned  magnificent  coaches 
and  beautifully  fitted  up  barges  and  pleasure-boats, 
and  they  also  had  sedan-chairs  and  sleighs. 

"  The  New  Yorkers  went  to  the  theatre,  to  con- 
certs, balls  and  parties,  dancing-assemblies  and  to  en- 
tertainments at  Fort  George ;  and  the  men  had  clubs 
and  societies.  Fashionable  people  and  the  general 
public  used  to  go  alike  to  the  big  summer  gardens, 
Ranelagh  and  Vauxhall,  where  they  had  various 
kinds  of  entertainment  that  included  foods  of  all 
kinds,  light  refreshments,  concerts,  dancing,  plays, 
bands  of  music  and  beautiful  walks  amid  the  illu- 
minated trees  and  flowers.  The  evening's  pleasures 
always  ended  with  fireworks. 

"  The  New  Yorkers  dressed  handsomely  and  in 
the  latest  European  fashions.  The  men  with  their 
powdered  wigs,  cocked  hats,  red-heeled  shoes,  glit- 
tering shoe  and  knee  buckles,  embroidered  waist- 
coats, lace  ruffles,  silken  coats,  fine  shirts,  silk 
stockings,  bunches  of  seals,  snuff-boxes,  walking- 
sticks  and  umbrellas  and  the  ladies  with  their  enor- 
mous hooped  skirts  of  silk  or  flowered  brocade, 
high  headdresses,  straw  hats,  gauze  ribbons,  ruffs, 
tippets  and  muffs  of  feathers  or  fur,  lutestring 
cloaks,   embroidered   shoes,   calash-bonnets,  fans, 


INTRODUCTORY 


19 


smelling-bottles,  snuff  and  match-boxes,  and  jewels 
and  lace  must  have  looked  like  a  swarm  of  brilliant 
butterflies. 

"  Are  you  tired?  "  asked  Doodle. 

"  Not  a  bit !  "  the  children  answered. 

"  Then  shall  we  go  on?  " 

"  Oh,  do!" 

"  Very  well  then:  we  will.  We've  finished  with 
English  New  York  now ;  so  let  us  get  on  to  the 
next  period.'" 

New  York  During  the  Revolution  and  Later. 

"  English  New  York  was  not  to  last  forever.  So 
now  comes  a  change.  The  Revolution  is  approach- 
ing. There  were  two  parties  at  this  time  in  America  : 
the  Tories,  or  Royalists,  who  supported  the  King 
and  Parliament ;  and  the  Whigs  or  Rebels,  who  re- 
sisted their  tyranny.  The  strife  between  them  soon 
became  intense;  and  a  favorite  toast  of  the  day  was 
1  Addition  to  Whigs,  subtraction  to  Tories,  multi- 
plication to  the  friends  of  liberty  and  division  to 
the  enemies  of  America.' 

"  At  this  time  a  great  patriotic  and  secret  society 
was  organized  in  New  York,  which  had  branches 
in  every  small  town.  It  was  called  the  Sons  of 
Liberty,  and  the  '  Sons '  used  to  meet  in  the  Fields 
or  the  Common  and  also  in  Montague's  Tavern. 

"  Well,  to  go  on.  James  Otis  of  Massachusetts 
called  a  congress  of  the  colonists  together  to  con- 
sider the  question  of  resisting  the  Stamp  Act. 
Nine  delegates  from  the  Thirteen  Colonies  met  in 
the  City  Hall  and  the  City  Arms  Tavern  in  New 
York;  and  they  all  agreed  to  return  the  goods  to 
Great  Britain  unless  the  Act  were  repealed.  While 


20  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


the  delegates  were  in  session,  the  Edward  arrived 
with  some  stamped  paper,  whereupon  the  vessels  in 
the  harbour  lowered  their  colours,  the  bells  of  the 
city  were  tolled  and  people  went  about  beating  muf- 
fled drums  for  the  funeral  of  Liberty.  Presently  the 
Polly  came  sailing  in  with  ten  packages  of  stamped 
paper,  and  landed  at  Cruger's  Dock;  but  a  body  of 
armed  men  boarded  her  at  night  and  carried  all  the 
paper  to  the  ship  yards  in  the  East  River  and 
burned  them  in  tar  barrels." 

"  Hurrah !  "  cried  Jack,  "  I  wish  I  could  have 
been  with  them !  " 

"  In  the  spring  the  new  ministry  in  England  with 
William  Pitt  at  the  head,  repealed  the  Stamp  Act 
and  a  new  governor  was  sent  to  New  York  —  Sir 
Henry  Moore  —  who  came  with  every  wish  to  make 
peace ;  but  soon  there  was  trouble  between  the  Sons 
of  Liberty  and  the  soldiers,  which  arose  because  of 
the  Liberty  Pole  that  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Common  between  Chambers  and  Warren  Streets. 

"  And  now  here  come  the  old  Liberty  Pole's 
troubles.    Shall  I  go  on?  " 

"  Oh,  do !  "  said  Jack  and  Nora  together. 

"  On  June  4,  1766,  on  the  anniversary  of  the 
King's  birthday,  the  people  had  a  great  celebration  to 
express  their  joy  over  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 
Cannon  thundered  and  bells  pealed  at  daybreak. 
Two  large  fat  oxen  were  roasted  on  the  Common, 
and  a  Liberty  Pole  was  erected  bearing  the  King's 
colours  and  banner  with  the  words  '  The  King,  Pitt, 
Liberty/  At  night  there  were  bonfires  and  illumi- 
nations. 

"  The  soldiers  at  the  Fort  were  determined  to  cut 
down  the  Liberty  Pole  and  at  last  they  succeeded  in 
doing  so.    This  created  great  excitement.    Two  or 


INTRODUCTORY 


21 


three  thousand  men,  principally  Sons  of  Liberty, 
headed  by  a  merchant  named  Isaac  Sears,  went  to  de- 
mand an  explanation  from  the  officers  and  soldiers 
and  about  cutting  down  their  Tree  of  Liberty,  and 
then  they  put  up  another.  The  soldiers  cut  this 
down  and  the  citizens  set  up  another;  and,  finally, 
in  January,  1770,  the  soldiers  blew  this  one  up  with 
gunpowder  and  piled  up  some  of  the  pieces  in  front 
of  Montague's  Tavern.  This  was  too  much! 
Pretty  nearly  the  whole  town  collected  in  the  Com- 
mons and  vowed  revenge.  The  result  was  a  fight. 
The  Sons  of  Liberty  and  the  people  armed  them- 
selves with  knives  and  sticks,  and  clubs  and  paving- 
stones  and  brick-bats;  the  bells  of  the  city  rang;  the 
shops  were  closed;  and  the  soldiers  retreated  to  a 
little  eminence,  then  named  Golden  Hill  (now  John 
and  William  Street).  This  happened  two  months 
before  the  Boston  massacre.  It  is  sometimes  called 
the  beginning  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  re- 
ferred to  as  the  Battle  of  Golden  Hill. 

"  The  Sons  of  Liberty  then  erected  a  stronger 
Pole  on  the  Common. 

"  The  next  event  was  the  arrival  of  the  tea-ship  — 
the  Nancy.  The  Mohawks,  a  society  something 
like  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  had  already  destroyed  the 
tea  in  Boston  Harbor  in  December,  1773,  and  an- 
other society  of  Mohawks  was  waiting  to  receive 
the  Nancy.  The  Sons  of  Liberty  were  ready  to 
help;  and  consequently  when  the  Nancy  arrived  in 
April,  1774,  off  Sandy  Hook,  the  pilots  would  not 
allow  her  to  enter  the  harbour.  A  few  days  later  she 
sailed  for  London.  The  Liberty  Pole  was  deco- 
rated ;  all  the  ships  in  the  harbour  flew  their  colours 
iand  every  bell  in  the  city  pealed  except  those  of  the 
City  Hall  and  King's  College. 


22 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  The  Battle  of  Lexington  was  fought  on  April 
J9>  I775-  New  York  heard  the  news  four  days 
later  and  the  flame  of  war  was  again  fanned.  A 
committee  of  a  hundred  patriots  took  charge  of  the 
city ;  companies  of  militia  were  formed ;  and  a  party 
of  men  went  to  the  City  Hall,  forced  the  doors  and 
procured  muskets,  bayonets  and  cartridges.  Vol- 
unteers were  also  told  to  get  themselves  the  proper 
regimental  clothes. 

"  Fort  George  was  then  occupied  by  the  Royal 
Irish  —  the  18th  Regiment  —  commanded  by  Major 
Isaac  Hamilton;  and  this  Royal  Irish  regiment  was 
soon  ordered  to  Boston  to  re-inforce  General  Gage. 
New  York  was  very  dull  and  quiet  all  through  the 
summer  of  1775  and  the  succeeding  winter. 

"Early  in  January,  1776,  General  Washington 
sent  General  Charles  Lee  to  New  York  to  take 
command  of  the  city.  The  first  thing  he  did  was 
to  fortify  the  defences.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  arrived 
off  Sandy  Hook  at  the  same  time;  but  to  his  sur- 
prise found  that  he  could  not  land. 

"  General  Washington  arrived  in  New  York  on 
April  14,  and  on  July  9th  he  received  his  copy  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  At  six  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  he  had  it  read  to  the  troops.  They  were 
all  drawn  up  on  the  Common  in  a  hollow  square  and 
Washington  sat  on  horseback  in  the  centre,  while 
an  aide  read  the  now  famous  document.  When  it 
was  finished,  three  hearty  cheers  were  given,  the 
bells  of  the  city  were  rung,  the  guns  were  fired  and 
some  of  the  soldiers  and  citizens  went  to  the  Bowl- 
ing-Green  and  destroyed  the  Statue  of  George  III, 
which  had  been  placed  there  in  1770.  On  July  12, 
two  British  war-ships,  named  the  Phoenix  and  the 
Rose  slipped  through  the  Narrows  and  sailed  up 


INTRODUCTORY 


23 


the  Hudson,  firing  on  the  city  as  they  sailed  along. 

"  The  British  had  possession  of  the  city  for  seven 
years  during  which  many  incidents  happened  and 
two  terrible  fires  occurred. 

"  Everybody  was  happy  when  peace  was  pro- 
claimed in  the  autumn  of  1783,  and  the  British 
evacuated  New  York. 

"  As  the  British  troops  embarked  at  the  Battery  — 
Washington  and  his  soldiers  marched  into  town  — 
down  the  Bowery  to  Chatham,  to  Pearl  (then 
Queen),  to  Wall  Street,  to  Cape's  Tavern  (the  old 
Province  Arms),  where  the  Boreel  building  is  now 
situated,  and  thence  to  Fort  George. 

"  An  American  lady  gives  us  a  good  picture  of 
the  scene  she  watched  so  excitedly : 

"  '  The  troops  just  leaving  us  were  as  if  equipped 
for  show  and  with  their  scarlet  uniforms  and  bur- 
nished arms,  made  a  brilliant  display;  the  troops 
that  marched  in,  on  the  contrary,  were  ill-clad  and 
weather-beaten,  and  made  a  forlorn  appearance ;  but 
then  they  were  our  troops,  and  as  I  looked  at  them, 
and  thought  upon  all  they  had  done  and  suffered 
for  us,  my  heart  and  my  eyes  were  full,  and  I  ad- 
mired and  gloried  in  them  the  more  because  they 
were  weather-beaten  and  forlorn/ 

"  On  December  4,  1873,  General  Washington  bade 
farewell  to  his  officers  in  Fraunces  Tavern  and 
then  he  walked  to  Whitehall  where  a  barge  was 
waiting  for  him,  to  take  him  across  the  ferry  on 
his  way  to  Virginia. 

"The  first  Congress  met  in  New  York  in  1789 
and  elected  General  Washington  President  of  the 
United  States.  He  left  Mount  Vernon  on  the  16th 
of  April  of  that  year  and  arrived  on  the  24th. 
On  the  30th  of  April  he  was  inaugurated  on  the 


24 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


balcony  of  the  City  Hall,  now  called  Federal  Hall, 
in  full  view  of  the  enormous  crowd.  This  build- 
ing was  on  Wall  and  Broad  Streets,  but  it  had  been 
entirely  remodelled.,, 

"Where  did  General  Washington  live?"  asked 
Nora. 

"  For  several  years  in  a  handsome  house  on 
Cherry  and  Franklin  Streets,  and  in  1790  in  a 
house  in  Broadway  near  Trinity  Church;  but  in 
that  year  a  very  handsome  residence  was  built  for 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  for  it  was  then 
supposed  that  New  York  would  always  be  the 
capital  of  the  country.  It  stood  on  the  southeast 
side  of  Bowling-Green  and  they  pulled  down  old 
Fort  George  to  make  room  for  it.  It  was  of  red 
brick  and  had  columns  and  a  portico>.  As  the 
governors  subsequently  resided  in  it,  it  was  called 
The  Government  House. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century 
New  York  contained  about  61,000  inhabitants. 
Battery  Park  and  Broadway  was  the  fashionable 
residential  district  and  Pearl  and  Cortlandt  Streets, 
the  fashionable  shopping  district.  Broadway 
•ended  at  what  is  now  Astor  Place.  City  Hall 
Park  was  still  called  the  Commons,  or  the  Park; 
and  on  it  stood  the  Almshouse,  the  New  Bridewell, 
the  New  Jail  and  the  Gallows.  Facing  the  Park, 
was  the  Park  Theatre.  The  City  Hall  was  begun 
in  1803  and  finished  in  18 12.  It  cost  half  a  million 
of  dollars,  and  the  back  was  left  unadorned  be- 
cause the  New  Yorkers  thought  the  town  would 
never  grow  north  of  it!  As  it  stands,  it  is  one  of 
the  handsomest  buildings  in  America,  and  a  splen- 
did specimen  of  the  style  of  architecture  of  its  day. 

"  In  1805,  there  was  a  terrible  outbreak  of  yellow 


INTRODUCTORY 


25 


fever  and  people  moved  out  in  the  country  to  es- 
cape it;  and  in  181 1  a  fire  started  in  Chatham 
Street  and  wiped  out  about  a  hundred  houses. 
Then  came  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  which  lasted 
from  1812  to  1815.  At  this  period  the  popula- 
tion was  about  95,000. 

"  After  peace  was  declared,  New  York  had  noth- 
ing to  do  but  to  extend  her  trade  and  commerce 
and  manufacturing,  and  to  grow  and  grow  and 
grow.    Modern  New  York  dates  from  about  1820. 

"  Broadway  then  had  sidewalks,  though  it  was 
still  hilly ;  the  old  Collect,  or  Fresh  Water  Pond,  was 
filled  in;  the  steam-ferry  boats  were  started  after 
Robert  Fulton  took  the  Clermont  up  the  Hudson 
in  1807;  gas  was  introduced  in  1825;  and  omni- 
buses in  1830  that  ran  on  Broadway  from  Bowling- 
Green  to  Bleecker  Street." 

"  How  large  was  New  York  in  those  days, 
Doodle  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Do  you  mean  how  many  people  lived  here  ? 
Well;  in  1830  the  population  was  200,000." 

"  How  was  it  New  York  got  to  be  such  a  rich 
city  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  It  always  was  a  rich  city,  dear,"  replied  Doodle. 
"  It  was  rich  in  the  days  of  the  old  Dutch  mer- 
chants; it  was  rich  in  the  days  of  the  English 
merchants;  it  weathered  through  the  stormy  days 
of  the  Revolution;  and  it  recovered  rapidly  when 
it  became  the  capital  of  the  Thirteen  States.  One 
great  help  towards  New  York's  enormous  wealth 
was  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  1825.  This 
joined  the  Great  Lakes  with  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
and  New  York  was  the  gateway,  you  see.  When 
the  first  canal-boat,  named  the  Seneca  Chief,  left 
Buffalo  with  a  distinguished  party  on  board,  the 


26  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


event  was  celebrated  in  New  York;  and  when  it 
arrived  a  few  days  later,  the  cannon  boomed,  the 
church  bells  pealed,  and  there  were  splendid  pro- 
cessions, balls,  illuminations  and  fireworks." 

"  How  did  they  illuminate  without  electric 
lights  ?  99  asked  Jack. 

"  Candles  and  lamps." 

"  They  couldn't  do  much  with  those,  could 
they  ?  "  queried  Nora. 

"  I  think  they  did  pretty  well,"  answered  Doodle. 
"  The  City  Hall  was  illuminated  with  1,524  candles, 
454  lamps  and  310  variegated  lamps.  Then  they 
had  transparencies  with  views  of  the  canal  and 
portraits  of  the  people  who  had  made  it  and  mag- 
nificent fireworks  consisting  of  rockets,  showers  of 
stars  and  dragons  and  serpents  and  balls.  Many 
houses  and  theatres  were  illuminated;  and  it  must 
have  been  a  very  brilliant  sight. 

"  The  next  thing  that  will  probably  interest  you," 
continued  Doodle,  "  was  the  introduction  of  Croton 
Water  in  1842,  when  High  Bridge  (1,450  feet  long) 
was  built  to  carry  the  pipes  over  the  ravine  into  the 
city.  Up  to  that  time  the  water  was  obtained  from 
wells  and  from  the  Tea-Water  Pump,  on  the  corner 
of  Pearl  and  Chatham  Streets.  Housekeepers  sent 
their  servants  for  water ;  or  they  bought  it  from  the 
vendors  who  carried  fresh  water  from  this  pump 
about  town  and  sold  it  for  a  penny  a  gallon. 

"  Well ;  Fm  not  going  to  tell  you  anything  about 
the  high  buildings  and  the  elevated  trains  and  the 
subways  and  New  York  of  to-day,  because  you 
know  all  about  it;  but  do  you  know  that  now  New 
York  is  the  second  city  in  the  world  ?  " 

"  What  is  the  biggest  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  London." 


INTRODUCTORY 


27 


"  How  many  people  live  in  New  York,  Doodle  ?  " 
asked  Jack. 

"  Our  population  was  estimated  last  January  at 
2,410,250, —  that  is  to  say  Manhattan  Island  alone; 
if  we  include  Greater  New  York,  then  the  popula- 
tion numbers  4,730,350.  Isn't  this  a  wonderful 
city  to  have  grown  so  rapidly  in  three  hundred 
years?  Just  let  your  minds  jump  back  to  the  little 
Dutch  town  of  New  Amsterdam  and  then  think  all 
this  has  been  accomplished  in  three  hundred  years! 

"  Now,  I  propose,"  continued  Doodle,  "  that  we 
go  on  a  jaunt  once  a  week  and  see  our  city  for 
ourselves,  visiting  its  museums  and  pleasure- 
grounds  and  enjoying  to  the  utmost  what  it  offers 
so  generously  to  us;  and  I  am  glad  that  you  both 
like  the  idea." 

"  Indeed,  indeed  we  do !  "  exclaimed  Nora  and 
Jack.  "  Five  davs  to  wait  until  Monday !  Oh 
dear!" 

"  There  is  one  thing  I  must  require,"  said  Doodle, 
very  solemnly.  "  Wherever  we  go,  we  must  obey 
the  rules  and  regulations.  Nothing  that  is  asked 
of  us  is  unreasonable.  It  costs  the  city  and  soci- 
eties a  great  deal  of  money  to  keep  up  these  muse- 
ums and  parks;  and  a  vast  amount  of  labour  is  ex- 
pended on  the  care  of  all  the  live  creatures  and  rare 
objects  that  we  shall  see.  The  directors  of  all  these 
places  have  given  thought  to  the  matter  before 
making  their  requests ;  and  so,  wherever  we  go,  we 
must  conform  to  all  their  rules  and  heed  all  their 
warnings.  In  addition  to  this,  we  must  observe 
quietly,  so  as  not  to  disturb  others  who  are  enjoy- 
ing the  same  things  as  ourselves;  and  we  must  not 
feed,  or  tease,  or  annoy  the  live  creatures  that  we 
shall  see." 


28  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Oh,  we  will  keep  the  rules !  You  can  depend 
on  us ! "  replied  the  children,  very  emphatically. 

"  '  Nay,  but  swear  it ! '  "  cried  Doodle,  tragic- 
ally, kneeling  quickly  on  the  floor  with  an  uplifted 
ruler :  — 

"  '  Upon  my  sword! 

Come  hither,  gentlemen, 

And  lay  your  hands  upon  my  sword, 

Upon  my  sword! '  " 

Jack  and  Nora,  who  had  often  read  and  played 
Hamlet  with  Doodle,  obeyed,  and  then  ran  off, 
laughing. 

''Wait  a  minute!"  Doodle  called  after  them, 
"  we'll  start  to-morrow,  if  it  is  a  fine  day." 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  AQUARIUM 

IN    WHICH    JACK,    NORA   AND    DOODLE   VISIT  THE 
AQUARIUM  AND  SEE  STRANGE  CREATURES. 

The  day  was  fortunately  so  bright  that  Jack  and 
Nora  were  sure  that  it  had  been  woven  sometime 
between  night  and  dawn  out  of  the  golden  sunlight 
and  fresh  breezes  especially  for  their  pleasure;  so, 
early  in  the  afternoon,  they  ran  across  the  street  to 
Doodle's  apartment,  which  was  opposite  their  own. 
Doodle  was  ready  for  the  jaunt;  but,  instead  of  re- 
plying to  their  excited  "  Where  are  you  going  to 
take  us  ?  "  began  with  the  most  provoking  calmness 
as  follows: 

"  Have  you  ever  thought  when  you  were  sitting 
on  the  rocks  at  the  seashore,  or  walking  on  the 
yellow  sands,  watching  the  sapphire  waves  swing 
and  sparkle  before  they  broke  into  snowy  foam 
that  you  would  like  to  walk  in  under  those  glorious 
billows  and  see  all  the  wonders  of  the  deep, —  the 
coral  grottoes  where  the  sea-gods  and  goddesses 
dwell ;  the  deep  caves  where  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea 
keeps  his  herd  of  seals;  the  marble  halls  where 
Neptune  stables  his  great  sea-horses ;  the  mysterious 
hollows  where  the  huge  sea-serpents  coil;  and,  per- 
haps, surprise  the  mermaids  combing  their  long 
glistening  hair,  or  find  St.  Brandan's  fairy  isle,  or 
the  fabled  Atlantis,  or  the  island  of  Avalon,  to  which 
the  three  queens  bore  King  Arthur? 

"  And  when  you  were  tired  of  searching  for  these 
29 


3° 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


fantastic  things,  would  you  not  like  to  see  all  the 
wonderful  creatures  that  live  in  the  water  —  the 
whales,  the  seals,  the  fish,  the  serpents,  the  crabs,  the 
lobsters  and  all  the  great  and  little  creatures  that  live 
in  the  caves  and  on  the  sea-weeds  and  sea-trees  and 
sea-moss  and  sea-grasses, —  in  short,  what  we  call 
the  marine  fauna  and  flora  (animals  and  plants)  ?  " 

"  Oh,  indeed,  we  should,"  replied  Jack  and  Nora 
together. 

"  Suppose  we  do  then?" 

"  How  can  we  ?  We  can't  get  to  the  sea-shore 
to-day!" 

"  I  don't  intend  to  take  you  to  the  sea-shore," 
answered  Doodle.  "  We  are  going  down  to  the 
Battery  in  the  elevated  train  and  then  walk  across 
Battery  Park  to  the  Aquarium." 

"  But  we've  been  to  the  Aquarium,"  the  children 
protested  in  a  very  disappointed  tone. 

"  I  doubt  if  you  can  tell  me  what  you  saw  there." 

"  Oh,  yes,  we  can ;  we  saw  fishes  swimming  about 
in  tanks  and  some  seals  in  the  big  pools." 

"  Is  that  all?" 

"  Yes,  but  let's  go  again.  We'd  like  to  go  any- 
where with  you.    What  is  an  Aquarium,  anyway?  " 

"  You  know  a  great  many  words  come  from 
Latin,"  Doodle  explained.  "  This  is  one  of  them. 
The  Latin  word  aqua  means  water  and  aquarium  is 
used  to  describe  a  tank,  or  collection  of  tanks, 
where  water-creatures  are  kept  as  much  as  possible 
under  natural  conditions.  Our  aquarium  is  a  very 
fine  one ;  indeed  there  are  only  a  few  others  in  the 
whole  world  that  can  compare  with  it, —  those  in 
Naples,  Berlin,  Hamburg,  Paris,  Brighton  in  Eng- 
land, Washington  and  Bermuda." 

"  Are  all  Aquariums  shaped  like  ours,"  the  chil- 


THE  AQUARIUM  31 


dren  asked,  as  they  caught  sight  of  the  peculiar 
brown  building. 

"Oh,  dear  no!"  Doodle  answered.  "  Ours  was 
built  for  a  fort, —  didn't  you  know  that?  No?  I 
shall  have  to  tell  you  about  it.  It  was  built  in  1807, 
—  about  a  hundred  years  ago.  At  that  time  the 
shore  line  of  Battery  Park  stopped  at  about  where 
the  Elevated  Railway  now  runs,  so  this  old  fort, 
which  was  called  Fort  Clinton,  was  built  out  on 
Kapske  Rock  and  was  joined  to  the  mainland  by  a 
bridge.  Castle  Clinton,  as  it  was  also  called,  was 
very  much  like  Castle  Williams  on  Governor's  Is- 
land, as  it  was  round  and  pierced  with  loop-holes 
through  which  the  mouths  of  the  guns  pointed  to- 
wards the  sea. 

"  Breast-works  were  erected  all  along  the  water- 
front around  the  Battery  Parade ;  and  Fort  Clinton 
was  a  very  important  defence  during  the  war  with 
Great  Britain  in  1812-1815. 

"  After  peace  was  made,  New  York  had  no 
longer  any  need  for  a  fort  on  the  Battery;  and,  in 
1822,  the  unused  building  was  leased  to  some  pri- 
vate individuals,  who  turned  it  into  a  place  of 
amusement  and  changed  its  name  to  Castle  Garden. 
It  was  used  as  an  opera-house,  a  concert-hall,  a  sort 
of  circus  place  and  a  reception  hall  for  distinguished 
visitors. 

"  In  1855  it  became  the  station  for  the  landing  of 
emigrants;  but  now  instead  of  human  beings  the 
round  building  shelters  strangers  bearing  fins  and 
scales  and  spines,  and  instead  of  the  strains  of  the 
orchestra  and  the  beautiful  voices  of  Mario  and 
Grisi  and  Jenny  Lind  you  hear  the  sound  of  many 
footsteps  and  the  splash  and  swish  of  the  captives 
in  the  tanks  and  pools. 


32  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  So  now  you  know  all  about  Castle  Garden 
until  it  was  turned  into  an  Aquarium  in  1896.  In 
1902,  it  was  placed  under  the  control  of  the  New 
York  Zoological  Society;  and  people  have  enjoyed 
going  there  so  much  that  since  it  was  opened,  up  to 
1909,  there  have  been  twenty-one  millions  of  vis- 
itors. In  one  year  alone  —  November,  1908  to 
November,  1909  —  there  were  3,739,133  who  called 
to  see  the  fishes. 

"  Well,  here  we  are.  As  we  enter  notice  that 
there  is  one  great  central  pool  on  the  floor  sur- 
rounded by  six  other  pools,  all  of  which  are  sup- 
plied with  salt  water.  These  are  used  for  the  ex- 
hibition of  large  salt  water  animals,  or  fish,  such  as 
seals,  sea-lions,  whales,  sturgeon,  and  special  cap- 
tures. Then  notice  ninety-four  glass-fronted  wall 
tanks  in  two  tiers;  and  that  the  light  is  arranged 
from  above  and  below  in  such  a  way  that  we  seem 
to  be  standing  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  or  river. 
The  wall  tanks  on  the  south  side  of  the  building 
are  for  the  salt-water  fishes  and  those  on  the  north 
side  are  for  the  fresh-water  fishes." 

"  How  many  fishes  do  you  suppose  are  here, 
Doodle  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Altogether  there  are  about  two  hundred  species 
of  fish,  and  from  three  thousand  to  four  thousand 
specimens  of  these.  Many  of  them  are  native  ma- 
rine and  fresh:water  species;  but  there  are  also 
tropical  specimens  from  Bermuda.  It  is  very  dif- 
ficult to  take  care  of  all  these  different  creatures; 
some  of  which  require  salt-water  and  some  fresh- 
water." 

"  How  do  they  get  the  water  into  the  building?  " 
questioned  Jack. 


THE  AQUARIUM 


33 


"Wells  sunk  under  the  building  supply  the  salt- 
water. The  made  ground  through  which  it  is 
drawn  serves  as  a  great  natural  filter.  The  water 
is  pumped  directly  into  the  supply  tanks  whence  it 
is  pumped  to  the  other  tanks.  The  fresh-water 
supply  is  taken  from  the  ordinary  city's  water  sup- 
ply, and  is  filtered  before  being  used.  Some  of  the 
tanks  are  supplied  with  extra  air  carried  into  them 
by  means  of  pipes,  for  all  fishes  have  to  have  air. 
"  And  here  is  another  trouble :  —  Fishes  seek 
colder  or  warmer  waters  by  swimming  at  greater 
or  less  depths,  or  by  moving  into  warmer  or  colder 
regions ;  and,  therefore,  the  water  has  to  be  changed 
sometimes  to  suit  their  tastes  and  needs.  There  is 
a  refrigerating  plant  for  cooling  fresh-water,  so 
that  the  tanks  of  such  fishes  as  trout,  for  instance, 
that  require  cool  water  in  summer  may  be  rendered 
comfortable  and  make  them  cease  to  long  for  those 
cool  shady  pools  they  always  seek  at  this  season  of 
the  year. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  tropical  and  sub-trop- 
ical fishes  would  certainly  die  on  the  approach  of 
winter  if  they  had  to  live  in  the  water  that  comes 
into  the  Aquarium  unless  it  were  heated.  So  there 
is  a  hot-water  plant  that  supplies  their  tanks  with 
delightfully  tepid  or  warm  water  that  reminds  them 
of  home. 

"  So  you  see  a  great  many  boilers,  filters,  a  re- 
frigerating-plant,  supply  tanks,  pipes,  and  other 
appliances  are  required  to  take  care  of  these  crea- 
tures. Moreover,  they  all  require  constant  watch- 
ing and  care.  The  tanks  have  to  be  kept  scru- 
pulously clean;  the  water  has  to  be  kept  pure; 
special  fishes  need  water  of  special  temperature, 


34 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


which  must  never  be  allowed  to  vary;  and  then 
they  all  require  special  feeding.  Then  there  are 
special  hatching-tanks  and  trays  that  have  to  be 
watched;  and  the  sick,  or  moping,  fish  also  need 
doctoring. " 

"What  do  they  do  with  the  sick  fish?"  ques- 
tioned Nora,  opening  her  large  brown  eyes  very 
wide. 

"  They  put  them  in  the  hospital-tanks!  " 

"Hospital-tanks!  "  exclaimed  both  children. 

"  Yes;  I'm  not  joking,  hospital-tanks.  Professor 
Bristol,  who  has  brought  many  rare  fishes  from 
Bermuda  to  the  Aquarium  with  great  success,  tells 
us  that: 

"  *  Many  an  anxious  consultation  is  held  over 
fishes  that  refuse  to  eat  or  that  develop  some  dis- 
ease and  lose  their  wonted  vigour.  This  one  needs 
a  salve  for  some  wound,  that  one  is  suffering  from 
some  fungous  growth.  The  latter  is  treated  by 
hydropathy  literally;  that  is,  if  it  is  a  fresh  water 
fish,  it  is  put  into  salt-water,  and  vice  versa  for 
the  fungi  that  live  in  one  kind  of  water  cannot  live 
in  the  other. 

"  '  Sometimes  a  fish  will  refuse  to  eat  for  days, 
as  did  the  large  Moray  that  came  from  Bermuda. 
At  one  time  this  great  eel  fasted  for  eighteen  days,' 
and  at  another  time  for  twenty-seven,  thus  causing 
its  caretakers  the  utmost  anxiety.  Eagerly  they 
study  the  bill  of  fare  provided  for  their  patients. 
Now  a  live  herring  is  offered,  now  a  dead  one; 
now  a  soft  shell  clam  in  the  shell,  now  a  quahog1 
minced  fine;  and  so  on  through  the  list  until  the 
fasting  animal  is  enticed  to  eat.  The  most  attrac- 
tive morsel  to  a  moping  fish  seems  to  be  a  strip 

1  Little  neck  clams. 


THE  AQUARIUM 


35 


cut  from  a  salted  codfish  and  manoeuvered  about 
on  a  long  stick  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  being 
alive.' 

"  There  are  also  tanks  in  which  are  kept  the 
small  fishes  and  shrimps  that  are  used  as  food  for 
the  larger  fishes. 

"  The  daily  feeding  of  all  these  creatures  is  a 
great  source  of  care  and  trouble.  Three  thousand 
little  mouths  have  to  be  fed  every  day.  And  they 
have  very  varied  tastes,  too.  Some  fish  are  vege- 
tarians; some  are  carnivorous, —  that  is  they  like 
meat;  and  a  few  are  omnivorous, —  that  is  they 
eat  everything." 

"  What  do  the  vegetarian  fish  eat?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Green  plants  and  soaked  cereals." 

"  And  the  carnivorous  ones?  "  queried  Jack. 

"  The  canivorous  fishes  like  soft  shell  clams  alive 
in  the  shell;  others  turn  up  their  snouts  and  noses 
at  everything  but  little  neck  clams  minced  very 
fine ;  others  eat  live  fish  that  they  catch  for  them- 
selves and  won't  touch  anything  given  to  them; 
others  dote  on  live  shrimps,  or  tiny  crabs ;  others, 
dead  fish,  provided  the  bones  are  all  taken  out. 
All  and  each  like  a  piece  of  salted  codfish.  Then 
the  fish,  seals,  turtles,  lobsters  and  even  the  tiny 
sea-anemones  have  different  tastes  and  needs  at 
different  seasons  of  the  year." 

"  Where  do  they  get  all  the  food  for  the  fishes, 
Doodle?"  asked  Jack,  whose  interest  in  the  Aqua- 
rium was  increasing  rapidly,  "  doesn't  it  take  a 
great  deal  to  feed  them?" 

"  You  are  right,  my  dear.  To  provide  for 
three  thousand  mouths  a  day,  even  if  they  are 
tiny  fish  mouths,  is  certainly  no  small  task.  The 
staff  of  the  Aquarium  has  both  to  buy  food  and 


36 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


to  collect  food.  Naturally  more  market  food  is 
consumed  in  the  winter  than  in  the  spring  or 
summer;  and  most  of  this  comes  from  Fulton 
Market.  In  one  January  the  bought  food  con- 
sisted of  629  pounds  of  fish  and  meat  and  6,600 
clams.  This  included  316  pounds  of  cod;  209 
pounds  of  herring;  88  pounds  of  smelt;  7  pounds 
of  beef ;  and  9  pounds  of  liver.  The  meat,  fish, 
and  clams  are  sliced,  chopped,  or  minced  to  suit 
the  tastes  of  the  various  fishes  and  other  creatures; 
and  it  takes  one  man  half  a  day  to  prepare  this 
food.  A  good  deal  of  live  food  is  kept  in  reserve 
tanks  also;  but  notwithstanding  this  extra  food,  it 
costs  about  $100  a  month  to  go  to  market  for  the 
Aquarium  fishes. 

"  The  live  food  brought  in  from  the  bays  and 
shores  during  the  summer  consists  of  shrimps, 
minnows,  crabs,  small  clams,  beach-fleas  and  small 
Crustacea  for  the  Sea-Horses.  Minnows  are  used 
at  the  rate  of  about  a  dozen  quarts  a  day  and  about 
15  or  20  quarts  of  shrimps  are  eaten  in  a  week. 
Fiddler-crabs,  stone  crabs  and  young  blue  crabs  are 
consumed  by  the  thousands  during  the  year;  500 
or  600  marine  worms  a  month  and  from  10,000  to 
12,000  clams  during  the  summer." 

"  What  are  beach-fleas,  Doodle  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Perhaps  you  know  them  by  the  name  of  sand- 
hoppers.  They  are  very  hard  to  gather.  Some- 
times the  collector  picks  them  up  at  low  tide,  or 
digs  them  out  of  the  sand;  but  the  usual  way  is 
to  spread  a  sheet  on  the  beach  and  place  a  lantern 
on  it.  The  sandhoppers  come  hopping  and  jump- 
ing on  the  sheet  to  satisfy  their  curiosity  regarding 
the  light,  and  the  man  gathers  up  the  sheet  by  the 


THE  AQUARIUM  37 


four  corners  and  dumps  the  little  creatures  into 
a  bucket. 

"  The  Sea-Horses  are  very  hard  to  provide  for ; 
for  the  special  sea-weed,  or  sea-moss,  on  which 
dwells  the  tiny  little  animal  that  they  live  on,  is 
scarce. 

"  After  a  rain,  when  the  Battery  Park  walks  are 
filled  with  earth-worms  that  have  crawled  out  from 
the  wet  grass  and  soft  earth,  the  Aquarium  of- 
ficials may  be  seen  gathering  up  these  delicious 
morsels  that  have  tempted  many  a  foolish  fish  to 
swallow  the  hidden  hook. 

"  It  is  very  necessary  for  the  feeder  to  know 
exactly  what  amount  of  food  to  offer  in  each  tank, 
for  nothing  must  be  left  over;  otherwise,  the  water 
will  be  rendered  impure,  and  the  fish  die,  of  course. 

"  The  daily  menu  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Horned  Dog-fish  has  to  have  herring ; 
the  Mud-fish,  frogs  and  any  small  fish;  the  Carp, 
soaked  wheat;  the  Sea-Horses  die  if  they  don't 
get  their  daily  Gammarids;  the  Bullfrog  must  have 
tadpoles,  small  frogs,  and  little  fishes;  the  large 
fishes  eat  minnows;  and  the  fresh  water  fishes, 
earth-worms. 

"  When  it  comes  to  feeding  the  baby  fish,  you 
will  probably  laugh  to  think  the  young  whitefish 
live  on  herring-roe  and  the  baby  trout  and  baby 
salmon  have  to  be  fed  on  minced  liver  and  herring- 
roe. 

"  Fresh-water  Turtles  require  chopped  beef, 
small  minnows,  small  bits  of  chopped  fish  and 
earthworms.  The  Green  Turtles  eat  mullet  and 
other  local  fishes  and  refuse  from  the  butcher's  shop. 
The  Sea  Turtles  demand  fresh  cod,  herring,  clams 


38 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


and  beef,  varied  occasionally  with  sea-lettuce;  and 
sometimes  they  like  cabbage  leaves. 

"  The  Snapping  Turtle  insists  on  having  a  goodly 
supply  of  fishes  and  frogs;  and,  moreover,  he  would 
rob  a  hen  roost." 

"  Rob  a  hen  roost?    How  could  he,  Doodle?" 

"  I  didn't  say  he  could.  I  said  he  would ;  for 
he  has  been  known  to  wander  ashore  and  capture 
small  chickens  and  turkeys.  Now  that  we  have 
taken  a  quick  general  look  all  around,"  continued 
Doodle  after  a  pause,  "  don't  you  agree  with  me 
that  of  all  strange  things  on  our  globe  the  things 
that  live  in  the  sea  are  the  strangest?  Can  you 
imagine  anything  more  fantastic  than  a  Lobster  or 
a  Crab  ?  Can  you  imagine  any  stranger  beings  than 
the  Annelids,  Anemones  and  Sponges?  What  do 
you  think  of  a  Star-fish?  A  Sea-Urchin?  A  Sea- 
Horse?  Then  please  consider  the  infinite  variety 
of  fishes  —  large  and  small  —  the  fresh- water 
fishes  and  the  marine  fishes  and  the  deep  sea  fishes 
—  their  peculiar  shapes,  and  their  brilliant  scales ; 
and,  then  their  shapes  —  thin  and  wedge-like,  or 
flat  or  stodgy  —  their  heads,  their  mouths,  their 
fins,  their  eyes, —  all  adapted  to  their  special  habits 
of  life.  In  some  of  the  fishes  the  pectoral,  or 
breast-fins,  are  highly  developed  for  walking  on  the 
sea-bottom;  some  fishes  have  teeth;  others,  jaws 
like  swords,  or  saws,  intended  for  weapons  of  at- 
tack and  defence;  and  some  of  the  flat  fishes  have 
both  eyes  on  the  same  side  of  the  head,  either  the 
right  or  the  left,  but  always  on  that  side  which  is 
usually  turned  to  the  light,  and  colored. 

"  Do  you  know,  it  is  a  queer  thing,  but  we  find 
pretty  nearly  everything  that  we  know  on  land  re-* 
peated  in  the  sea?    We  find  Hog-fish,  Dog-fish, 


THE  AQUARIUM 


39 


Cat-fish,  Cow-fish,  Rabbit-fish,  Squirrel-fish,  Toad- 
fish,  Mutton-fish,  Parrot-fish,  Spotted  Hind,  Sea- 
Ravens,  Sea-Robins,  Trunk -fish, —  and  some  things 
that  we  find  in  the  sky  —  Moon-fish,  Sun-fish,  Star- 
fish and  Angel-fish!    And  they  are  all  here." 

"Oh,  Doodle,  you  are  joking!" 

"  No ;  I'm  not ;  come  and  see.  But  first  let  us 
look  at  the  King  of  all  Fish  —  the  Salmon.  Here 
is  one  that  reminds  me  of  the  Salmon  little  Tom, 
the  chimney-sweep,  saw  in  the  ocean: 

"  i  Such  a  fish !  shining  silver  from  head  to  tail 
and  here  and  there  a  crimson  dot;  with  a  grand 
hooked  nose  and  a  grand  curling  lip  and  a  grand 
bright  eye,  looking  round  him  as  proudly  as  a  king 
and  surveying  the  water  right  and  left  as  if  it  all 
belonged  to  him.' 

"  Before  we  go  any  further,  I  should  like  to 
tell  you  something  about  Zoophytes;  but  I  am  go- 
ing to  borrow  the  language  of  a  special  student, 
who  can  give  you  a  better  idea  than  I  can  of  this 
strange  work  of  Nature: 

"  '  The  meaning  of  Zoophyte  is  a  living  plant 
and  the  animals  included  in  this  class  are  so  called, 
because,  in  the  first  place,  they  were  for  a  long  time 
considered  to  be  vegetables;  and  because,  secondly, 
a  vast  number  of  individuals  are  found  united  like 
flowers  on  a  plant,  by  a  common  stem.  If  you 
go  down  to  the  beach  and  pick  up  the  first  object  — 
which  you  suppose  to  be  delicate  sea-weed  —  you 
will  probably  see  (with  a  magnifying  glass)  that 
it  is  an  assemblage  of  horny  cells,  or  hollowed  ves- 
sels, on  a  stem  of  similar  structure;  and  if  the 
animal  be  alive,  each  cell  is  tenanted  by  a  little  crea- 
ture of  most  beautiful  form  and  most  active  habits. 
All  polyps  are  not  thus  clustered,  but  many  are, 


40  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


and  the  distinctive  characters  of  the  class  are  the 
facts  of  their  being  fixed,  either  solitarily  or  in 
masses  by  a  stem,  and  their  possessing  arms  (tent- 
acles) with  which  they  seize  their  food.' 

"  There  is  a  very  curious  thing  about  a  Zoophyte. 
It  can  be  cut  or  torn  into  two  or  more  pieces  with- 
out either  portion  dying  or  apparently  suffering  in 
the  least.  Indeed,  if  we  cut  a  Zoophyte  in  two, 
each  piece  will  live  and  become  an  independent  and 
perfect  creature." 

"  That  is  very  hard  to  believe,"  sighed  Nora, 
"but  I  suppose  I'll  have  to!" 

"  The  most  beautiful  of  all  polyps,  or  Zoophytes, 
are  the  anemones.    Come  and  see  them. 

"  An  Anemone  gets  its  name  from  the  fancied 
resemblance  to  the  flower  of  that  name,  but  it  is 
much  more  like  a  Passion-flower.  When  closed, 
the  Anemone  is  a  mass  of  flesh  from  the  size  of 
a  pin's  head  to  nearly  an  inch  in  diameter.  When 
it  spreads  its  arms  out  in  all  directions  to  get  its 
food,  it  sometimes  measures  as  much  as  five  or  six 
inches  across.  Then  it  is  very  handsome,  varying 
from  every  shade  of  red  and  salmon  pink,  olive 
green  with  yellow  or  brown  stripes,  white,  brown, 
grey,  fleshcolour.  The  Bermuda  varieties  are  very 
beautiful:  some  have  a  dark  red  body  with  light 
red  tentacles ;  and  others,  an  olive  green  body,  with 
salmon  coloured  tentacles.  Some  look  like  chrys- 
anthemums and  are  crimson,  purple,  orange  or  pink 
with  hundreds  of  petals;  others  resemble  puckered- 
up  dahlias,  blood-red,  sea-blue  striped  with  pink, 
and  other  colours.  All  are  alike  in  one  respect, — 
they  are  very  greedy. 

"  In  Bermuda,  where  so  many  of  our  Aquarium 
specimens  come  from,  you  look  down  through  the 


THE  AQUARIUM 


clear  deep  water  into  the  sea-garden  of  the  coral 
reefs  — 

'the  gardens  of  Nereus: 
Coral  and  sea-fan  and  tangle,  the  blooms 
and  the  palms  of  the  ocean/ 

"  The  Bermuda  sea-gardens  are  like  the  caves  that 
we  were  reading  about  the  other  day  in  Water 
Babies.  '  All  curtained  and  draped  with  seaweeds, 
purple  and  crimson,  green  and  brown;  and  strewn 
with  soft  white  sand,  on  which  the  water-babies 
sleep  every  night.  But,  to  keep  the  place  clean  and 
sweet,  the  crabs  picked  up  all  the  scraps  off  the 
floor  and  ate  them  like  so  many  monkeys;  while 
the  rocks  were  covered  with  ten  thousand  sea- 
anemones  and  corals  and  madrepores  who  scav- 
enged the  water  all  day  long  and  kept  it  nice  and 
pure.  But  to  make  up  to  them  for  having  to  do 
such  nasty  work,  they  were  not  left  black  and 
dirty,  as  poor  chimney-sweeps  and  dustmen  are. 
No;  the  fairies  are  more  considerate  and  just  than 
that;  and  have  dressed  them  all  in  the  most  beauti- 
ful colours  and  patterns,  till  they  look  like  vast 
flower-beds  of  gay  blossoms.' 

"  We  haven't  any  Bermuda  sea-gardens  here  of 
course,  but  we  have  many  strange  and  beautiful 
sea-creatures  from  that  far-away  island,  the  scene 
of  Prospero's  fairy  isle  in  the  Tempest.  In  such 
bright  grottoes  these  brilliant  butterflies  of  the  sea 
are  hardly  noticeable  as  they  float  lazily,  or  dart 
rapidly  about,  according  to  their  disposition;  but 
here  in  the  green  water,  amid  stones,  sand  and  shells, 
they  are  very  noticeable. 

"  Most  beautiful  of  all  is  the  Angel-fish.  Notice 
his  wing-like  fins,  terminating  in  golden  streamers, 


42  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


contrasting  with,  or  rather  melting  into,  the  tur- 
quoise blue  of  his  scales!  He  floats  in  the  water 
as  peacefully  as  an  angel  might  hover  in  the  air, 
and  has  the  irridescent  gleams  of  a  tropical  butter- 
fly. He  is  not  angelic  in  disposition,  however,  for 
he  will  wear  out  any  fish  that  comes  near  him  by 
chasing  it  almost  to  death,  unless  he  can  get  close 
enough  to  it  to  wound  it  fatally  with  the  sharp 
spur  he  wears  on  each  gill  cover.  The  Angel-fish 
attains  a  weight  of  four  pounds  and  is  of  a  deli- 
cious flavour." 

"  I  think  he  is  too  pretty  to  eat,"  said  Nora. 

"  But  think  of  his  evil  temper,"  said  Doodle,  as 
they  moved  to  the  next  tank. 

"  The  Green  Parrot-fish  is  one  of  the  handsomest 
fish  found  in  the  waters  of  Bermuda  and  the  West 
Indies.  As  its  flesh  is  thought  to  be  poisonous,  it 
is  never  used  for  food.  Its  colours  are  like  those 
of  a  parrot,  as  you  see,  and  its  jaws  are  so  strong 
that  it  chews  up  the  shell  of  the  shellfish  on  which 
it  feeds.  The  Blue  Parrot-fish  is  also  very  beau- 
tiful. Look  at  the  irregular  narrow  markings  of 
light  blue  on  its  head ;  and,  see,  there  is  a  light  blue 
spot  at  the  base  of  each  scale. 

"  Here  is  another  bad  character, —  the  Surgeon, 
who  carries  two  little  lancet-like  spines  in  his  tail; 
and,  like  many  other  surgeons,  inflicts  wounds  in- 
stead of  effecting  cures.  Isn't  he  a  beautiful  tur- 
quoise blue?  He  is  found  in  Bermuda,  the  West 
Indies  and  on  the  coast  from  South  Carolina  to 
Florida. 

"  The  Spotted  Hind  comes  from  Bermuda,  the 
West  Indies  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Look  at 
his  handsome  suit  of  white,  spotted  profusely  with 
scarlet  polka  dots;  and  see,  he  wears  bands  of 


THE  AQUARIUM 


43 


scarlet  at  intervals  from  his  throat  to  his  tail.  He 
is  quite  a  swell. 

"  The  Trunk-fish  and  the  Cow-fish  are  very 
cross  and  unfriendly  with  other  kinds  of  fish.  The 
Trunk-fish  is  triangular  in  form  and  its  body  is 
encased  in  shell.  It  grows  to  about  eight  inches 
in  length,  and  is  found  all  the  way  from  Key 
West  to  Massachusetts,  as  well  as  in  Bermuda  and 
the  West  Indies.    The  Cow-fish  is  a  near  relative, 

—  a  first  cousin.  He  grows  as  long  as  twenty 
inches  and  lives  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  in  the 
waters  as  far  as  Texas,  and  also  on  the  coasts  of 
Africa  and  Bermuda.  He  has  two  horn-like  spines 
just  above  his  eyes;  and,  if  we  get  him  in  the  right 
position,  and  look  at  him  full  in  the  face,  he  cer- 
tainly deserves  his  name. 

"  Here  is  a  peculiarly  attractive  visitor,  also  from 
Bermuda  —  the  Bridefish  also  called  Four-eyed  — 
named  from  the  big  dark  spots  on  the  body  near 
the  tail.  The  pretty  Squirrel-fish  with  his  bright 
red  body,  large  eyes  and  deeply  forked  tail,  also 
comes  from  Bermuda.  He  is  found,  too,  in  the 
waters  of  the  West  Indies  and  off  the  Florida 
shore. 

"  Some  of  the  fish  that  dwell  on  our  own  shores 
are  brilliant,  too.  Here  is  a  beauty!  Look  at  his 
pectoral  fins,  which  are  so  long  that  fishermen  call 
them  wings;  and  he  is  named, —  what  do  you  think  ? 

—  the  Sea  Robin!  He  is  one  of  the  earliest  fish  to 
arrive  on  our  coasts  in  the  spring.  The  Sea  Robin 
is  found  on  our  coast  all  the  way  from  Cape  Ann 
to  South  Carolina.  Here  is  a  Striped  Sea  Robin; 
and  here  is  a  red-winged  Sea  Robin :  his  wings,  or 
fins,  are  as  beautiful  in  colour  and  markings  as 
those  of  a  butterfly. 


44  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Now,  here  is  a  Sea  Raven:  he  ranges  from  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  to  Nova  Scotia.  Some  members 
of  his  family  are  orange  with  dark  spots;  others, 
are  brick  red  with  dark  markings;  and  all  of  them 
have  prominent  eyes,  heavy  spines  and  ferocious 
expressions.  For  my  part,  I  should  think  it  would 
terrify  the  little  fish  out  of  their  scales  to  see  a 
Sea  Raven  dart  at  them  through  the  waters.  It 
would  be  enough  to  make  them  swallow  their  gills 
in  fright." 

"  Oh ;  what  is  this !  "  cried  Nora.  "  How  sad 
he  looks !    How  pale !  " 

"  Didn't  I  tell  you  we  should  see  a  Moon-fish  ? 
Yes;  he  is  pale  and  sad  and  greenish  white  and 
flat  and  round;  and  looks  as  if  he  had  lost  his  last 
friend,"  answered  Doodle. 

"  I  think  he  looks  as  if  he  had  never  had  a 
friend/'  said  Nora. 

"  Oh,  look  at  this  queer  animal ! "  exclaimed 
Jack. 

"Animal!"  snorted  Nora  contemptuously,  with 
a  toss  of  her  head. 

"  Jack  isn't  so  far  wrong,"  laughed  Doodle. 
"  He  is  a  Toad-fish!" 

"  There! "  cried  Jack  triumphantly,  his  eyes 
gleaming.    "  Tell  us  about  it,  Doodle." 

"  Well,  the  Toad-fish  uses  that  broad  head  and 
big  mouth  of  his  to  burrow  under  rocks  and  stones. 
He  has  a  queer  habit  of  filling  his  mouth  full  of 
gravel  and  swimming  off  with  it  to  a  little  distance. 
He  repeats  the  performance  until  he  has  a  burrow 
big  enough  to  accommodate  his  body. 

"  The  Miller's  Thumb  is  another  fish  that  bur- 
rows under  the  sand  and  gravel  and  hides  under 


THE  AQUARIUM 


45 


stones.  There  he  is  under  those  little  stones. 
Look! 

"Here  is  a  curious  little  fish  —  the  Brook 
Stickleback.  He  never  grows  more  than  two  and 
a  half  inches  long.  Mr.  Stickleback  is  a  very  esti- 
mable husband  and  a  kind  father.  He  builds  a 
nest,  with  water  plants ;  and  after  the  eggs  are  laid 
in  it,  guards  them  until  they  are  hatched.  Then 
he  watches  over  the  young  fish  until  they  are  able 
to  look  after  themselves.  After  that,  he  brings  up 
a  new  family,  and  wouldn't  know  his  first  children 
from  any  other  fishlings. 

"  Here  is  old  Pumpkin  Seed!  He  is  only  a  com- 
mon sunfish;  but  isn't  he  handsome?  You  find 
him  everywhere  —  on  the  coast  from  Maine  to 
Georgia,  and  in  the  streams  and  ponds  of  New 
England  and  New  York.  Look  at  that  bright 
scarlet  work  on  his  gill  covers! 

"  Now  look  at  old  Wall-eyed  Pike !  He  is  hand- 
some, too,  in  his  dark  olive  suit  tinged  with  gold 
beautifully  mottled.    He  is  built  for  speed." 

"  Oh !  anybody  can  see  that !  "  said  Jack. 

"  Here  is  a  clumsy-looking  individual, —  the 
Sheepshead.  Wait  till  we  get  him  in  profile! 
There!  isn't  his  face  like  a  sheep?  Look  at  those 
teeth ! 

"  But  talking  about  teeth  —  here  is  a  fish,  whose 
teeth  are  so  heavy  and  his  jaws  so  strong  that  he 
crushes  up  the  shells  of  his  favourite  food  —  the 
oysters.  He  is  the  Drum;  and  sometimes  he 
reaches  eighty  pounds  in  weight." 

"Oh!  look  at  this  one!"  cried  Nora.  "What 
is  he?  Look!  He  has  a  double  row  of  teeth. 
Oh!  what  a  large  mouth;  and,  look!  he  has  got 


46  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


two  little  fishing-rods  on  his  head !  Are  those  really 
fishing-rods  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  they  are.  They  are  tentacles  tipped  with 
a  small  fleshy  membrane.  His  nice  little  plan  is 
to  hide  among  the  rocks,  open  his  jaws  and  dangle 
these  fishing-rods.  Tempted  by  what  they  think  is 
food,  the  smaller  fish  simply  swims  up  and  nibbles ; 
but  instantly  Mr.  Angler  draws  in  his  fishing-rod, 
shuts  up  his  jaws  with  a  snap,  and  down  goes  the 
bass,  or  porgy,  into  Mr.  Angler's  dark  cavern. 

"  Here  is  the  Swell-fish,  or  Puffer,  or  Blower. 
He  rises  to  the  surface  and  fills  his  stomach  with 
air  so  that  he  floats,  belly  uppermost.  The  Swell- 
fish  has  a  parrot-like  blue  beak,  but  no  teeth.  He 
often  buries  himself  in  the  sandy  bottom  of  the 
tank  with  only  his  eyes  exposed;  and,  when  dis- 
turbed, he  turns  dark  and  splotches  of  black  appear. 

"  Everybody  likes  to  look  at  the  Sea-Horse ;  and 
indeed  he  is  a  curious  little  animal.  He  is  found 
on  our  coast  all  the  way  from  Cape  Cod  to  Florida ; 
and  he  seems  to  live  all  the  year  round  in  New 
York  Bay.  He  varies  from  three  to  six  inches 
in  length;  has  a  head  like  a  horse;  a  body  encased 
in  a  coat  of  mail;  and  a  tail  that  curves  inward. 
The  latter  is  of  very  great  use  and  comfort  to  him. 
He  also  has  an  accomplishment  that  you  can  never 
learn,  and  that  is  to  use  his  eyes  separately, —  and 
this  is  also  very  helpful  to  him  in  securing  his 
food.  His  name  Hippocampus  comes  from  two 
Greek  words  hippos,  horse  and  kampe,  worm  or 
caterpillar.  He  has  been  compared  to  the  knight 
of  the  chess-board ;  but  what  appears  to  be  his  neck, 
is  really  the  back  part  of  his  stomach! 

"  Now  here  is  a  queer  thing  about  Sea-Horses. 
If  Mr.  Hippocampus  has  a  tail  like  a  monkey,  he 


THE  AQUARIUM 


47 


also  has  a  pouch  like  a  kangaroo.  Mrs.  Hippo- 
campus places  the  eggs  in  this  pouch,  which  is  in 
front  of  his  tail;  and  there  they  stay  until  they 
are  fully  hatched.  Owing  to  the  peculiar  shape  of 
its  tail,  the  Hippocampus  cannot  move  very  quickly. 
Its  position  is  usually  vertical;  the  body  is  held 
"  nearly  erect  with  the  tail  wound  round  the  stem  of 
a  plant,  or  a  weed,  or  a  stick,  or  little  stone.  The 
Sea-Horse  always  swims  in  this  erect  position  and 
its  motions  are  very  slow,  except  for  the  dorsal  fin 
—  that  is  the  back  fin  —  and  pectorals  —  or  breast- 
fins  —  which  are  rapidly  moved. 

"  Mr.  Gill,  who  has  studied  the  Sea-Horse  very 
carefully,  says  that: 

"  '  The  body  may  be  thrown  outward  at  various 
angles  and  even  downward,  and  the  tail  wound 
around  a  plant  in  a  double  coil.  Once  in  a  while 
one  eye  may  roll  toward  you,  while  another  may  be 
passive,  or  look  backward,  or  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion. It  becomes  obvious  that  the  little  fish  can 
move  its  eyes  independently  of  each  other  and  in 
entirely  different  ways.  A  comical  effect  is  pro- 
duced by  the  way  in  which  the  little  fishes  peer  at 
some  object,  reminding  one  of  the  actions  of  a  very 
near-sighted  person.  Releasing  itself  at  length 
from  its  support,  one  may  slowly  progress,  still  in 
a  vertical  position,  its  tail  curved  inward,  its  dorsal 
fin  rapidly  undulating  and  reminding  one  of  a 
screw-propeller,  its  pectorals  vibrating  in  harmony.' 

"  These  peculiar  little  creatures  are  said  to  make 
faint  sounds.  As  it  is  a  defenceless  little  thing, 
Nature  allows  it  to  look  like  the  sea-weed  among 
which  it  conceals  itself  and  in  waters  where  the  sea- 
weeds and  Zoophytes  (you  know  now  what  Zoo- 
phytes are),  are  bright,  it  assumes  these  hues  of 


48 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


red,  pink  or  yellow.  As  a  rule,  it  is  light  brown, 
or  speckled. 

"  Its  mode  of  feeding  is  strange, —  and  it  gen- 
erally is  feeding.  It  lives  on  tiny  crustaceans  such 
as  sand-fleas  which  it  finds  on  the  sea-moss.  It 
moves  slowly  toward  the  weed,  brings  its  mouth  up 
to  the  food  it  sees  there,  inflates  its  cheeks, —  and 
captures  the  little  crustacean.  The  latter  has  to  be 
perfectly  motionless  on  the  ground  or  plant,  because 
the  Sea-Horse  is  too  slow  to  get  it  if  it  is  moving; 
but,  it  must  be  alive.  No  dead  food  for  him !  Per- 
haps you  have  noticed  that  all  the  officials  of  the 
Aquarium  wear  the  figure  of  a  gold  sea-horse  in 
their  caps  as  a  badge. 

"  The  Pipe-fish  is  another  curious  creature,  with 
a  long  pipe-like  snout.  Owing  to  the  way  he  stands 
on  his  head  and  tumbles  about,  people  have  com- 
pared him  to  a  clozvn. 

"  You  know  lobsters  and  crabs  very  well ;  but  the 
Hermit  Crab  is  a  peculiar  individual.  He  has  no 
shell  on  his  body,  and,  therefore,  he  has  to  find 
some  protection  for  himself.  He  goes  off  house- 
hunting and  when  he  finds  an  empty  shell  that  suits 
him  exactly,  he  takes  possession  of  it.  He  has  two 
small  hooks  at  the  end  of  his  body  and  with  these 
he  catches  hold  of  one  of  the  spirals  of  the  shell 
which  he  intends  to  occupy;  and  as  his  body  is 
more  like  that  of  a  worm  than  a  crab,  he  is  able  to 
squirm  into  the  spiral  shell  and  fit  himself  into  its 
coils.  When  he  outgrows  this  shell,  he  has  to  hunt 
for  a  new  house ;  and  so  he  crawls  out  of  his  old 
quarters  and  goes  off  house-hunting  again.  An  ob- 
server who  has  seen  the  hermit-crab  hunting  for  a 
new  residence  says :  '  When  a  hermit  desires  to 
change  his  habitation  he  goes  through  a  series  of 


THE  AQUARIUM  49 


performances,  which,  if  he  had  hands,  we  should 
be  disposed  to  call  manipulations.  A  shell  lies  on 
the  ground  and  the  hermit  seizes  it  with  his  claws 
and  feet,  twists  it  about  with  wonderful  dexterity, 
as  if  testing  its  weight;  and  having  examined  every 
portion  of  its  exterior,  he  proceeds  to  satisfy  him- 
self about  the  interior.  For  this  purpose,  he 
pushes  his  fore  legs  as  far  into  the  shell  as  they 
will  reach,  and  probes,  with  their  assistance,  every 
spot  that  can  be  touched.  If  this  examination  sat- 
isfies him,  he  whisks  himself  into  the  shell  with 
such  rapidity  that  he  seems  to  have  been  acted  upon 
by  a  spring.' 

"  He  is  a  terrible  fighter  and  when  he  meets  one 
of  his  fellows,  a  big  battle  takes  place.  They  roll 
over  each  other  like  two  dogs  and  use  their  claws 
with  great  violence. 

"  The  King  Crab  has  been  also  called  the  Horse- 
foot  and  the  Sauce-pan  on  account  of  its  shape.  It 
is  a  slow,  stupid  thing,  burrows  below  the  surface 
of  the  sand  or  mud,  and  is  found  on  the  coast 
from  Maine  to  Florida. 

"  The  oysters,  clams,  mussels,  scallops,  winkles, 
razor-shells,  drills,  pear-conch,  natica  and  others  be- 
long to  the  family  of  Mollusks.  Many  of  them  bur- 
row in  the  sand.  Here  is  another  peculiar  group  — 
the  Echinoderms,  which  includes  the  Sea  Urchin  a 
little  pin-cushion  with  purple  spines;  the  curious 
Sand-Dollar  which  moves  by  means  of  its  spines  or 
bristles,  and  the  Star-Fish,  which  has  five  flexible 
arms,  and  strange  to  say,  if  one  of  these  is  torn,  it 
can  reproduce  itself  in  the  water  again  and  become  a 
perfect  Star-Fish !  The  Star-Fish  feeds  on  oysters 
and  mussels  and  he  doesn't  need  anybody  to  open 
the  shells  for  him  either.    The  Drill  has  a  good  way 


50  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


too  of  eating  an  oyster;  he  bores  a  hole  through  the 
shell  and  then  sucks  out  the  contents. 

"  Now  let  us  look  at  the  Annelids.  This  Tube- 
worm  makes  a  conical,  slightly  curved  tube  of 
grains  of  sand  in  a  single  layer,  held  together  by  a 
kind  of  water-proof  cement  that  he  makes  himself. 
This  relative  of  his  called  Serpula  and  this  one, 
called  Sabella,  also  make  tubes  in  which  they  live. 
They  are  regular  worms  and  have  feather-like  gills. 
Serpula  lives  in  colonies  and  likes  to  attach  himself 
to  a  shell.  When  everything  is  quiet  he  sticks  out  of 
the  tube  a  curious  piece  of  himself  shaped  like  a 
trumpet  and  then  two  bright  combs  which  he  uses 
to  secure  his  food.  But  on  the  slightest  movement 
or  disturbance,  he  whisks  these  gills  back  into  the 
tube. 

"  I  think  if  we  look  at  this  green  Moray,  we  can 
believe  in  the  stories  of  sea-serpents.  He  lives  in 
the  tropical  and  sub-tropical  waters  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans  and  is  very  plentiful  about  the 
rocks  and  coral  reefs.  He  is  very  ferocious;  and 
when  caught,  puts  up  a  big  fight.  Both  of  his  jaws 
are  furnished  with  sharp  teeth,  which  incline  back- 
ward towards  his  throat.  His  breathing  is  pe- 
*  culiar.  Watch  him.  See ;  he  opens  his  mouth 
quite  wide,  taking  in  a  quantity  of  water  which  dis- 
tends the  throat  and  cheeks.  Now  see;  his  mouth 
closes;  the  throat  and  cheeks  are  contracted;  and 
the  water  is  forced  out  through  the  little  round  gill 
openings.  The  green  Moray  has  been  known  to 
reach  a  length  of  twelve  to  fifteen  feet;  so  I  think 
he  makes  a  pretty  fair  kind  of  sea-serpent/' 

"  Ugh !  "  exclaimed  Nora,  "  I  think  he  is  horrid. 
I  can't  bear  to  look  at  him." 


THE  AQUARIUM 


"  Now  let  us  take  a  look  at  the  West  Indian 
seals,"  continued  Doodle.  "  They  are  very  rare,  and 
are,  perhaps,  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  exhibits  in 
the  Aquarium.  These  three  seals  are  the  only  ones 
of  their  kind  on  exhibition  anywhere;  and  may  be 
the  last  that  will  ever  be  seen  in  captivity,  for  they 
are  nearly  extinct.  We  must  be  careful,  however, 
for  the  big  one  often  throws  a  nipper  full  of  water 
in  the  faces  of  his  visitors.  One  queer  thing  about 
the  seal  is  that  when  it  dives,  it  closes  its  nostrils  and 
ears.  It  uses  it  front  flippers  to  swim,  to  move  it- 
self about  on  the  land  and  to  climb  rocks.  Its  hind 
flippers  it  uses  like  the  screws  of  a  ship  to  push 
itself  through  the  water  at  great  speed. 

"  Some  people  say  that  the  seal  is  responsible  for 
the  idea  of  the  mermaid, —  that  when  sailors  saw  it 
lying  on  the  mist-wreathed  rocks,  far  out  in  the 
sea,  it  suggested  the  figure  of  a  woman;  but  for 
my  part,  I  think  some  of  the  creatures  we  have 
seen  to-day  are  just  as  strange  as  mermaids  and 
mermen." 

"  I  should  like  to  go  and  find  out  if  there  are 
any,"  said  Jack. 

"  Well ;  you  can  never  do  that/'  said  Nora,  em- 
phatically. 

"  Don't  be  too  sure,"  replied  Doodle.  "  It  is  not 
impossible.  In  fact,  an  Italian  gentleman,  Signor 
Pino,  has  invented  a  submarine  boat  that  can  be 
lowered  from  a  larger  boat  to  any  depth  in  the 
water ;  and  when  it  reaches  the  bottom  of  the  ocean, 
it  can  be  made  to  move  along  by  means  of  a  wheel 
propelled  by  a  screw  driven  by  electricity." 

"  Oh  tell  us  about  it.  Has  he  ever  been  down 
himself?" 


52 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Many  times.    Hundreds  of  times!  " 

"  What  does  he  say  it  is  like  down  there  ?  99 

"  Well,  for  one  thing,  he  says  it  is  always  light 
under  the  water ;  and  for  another  thing,  that  when 
down  below  the  waves  a  man  has  no  more  sense  of 
being  submerged  in  the  water  than  he  has  on  the 
earth  of  being  drowned  in  the  air!  " 

"  What  is  it  like?" 

"  Signor  Pino  says  that  the  bottom  of  the  sea  is 
covered  with  something  that  looks  like  ashes  and 
also  light  mud,  and  that  sand  is  rarely  found.  At 
a  certain  level  the  sand  stops  and  the  action  of 
storms  is  unknown.  He  reports  that  it  is  perfectly 
beautiful  in  the  ocean-gardens,  where  he  has  found 
trees  and  shrubs  like  pines  and  firs  and  cypresses 
and  plants  and  weeds  of  the  most  gorgeous  colours 
you  can  imagine." 

"What  is  his  boat  like?" 

"  Shaped  like  a  cannon  ball  and  made  of  steel 
with  a  funnel  at  the  top.  It  is  supplied  with  win- 
dows made  of  a  special  kind  of  glass  through  which 
the  navigator  can  see  everything  that  is  going  on 
around  him.  Air  is  pumped  in  from  the  boat  above, 
and  a  telephone  is  also  connected  with  this  boat. 

"  Another  thing  that  Signor  Pino  has  invented 
is  a  Hydroscope.  This  is  an  instrument  that  en- 
ables one  to  see  clearly  and  distinctly  any  object  in 
the  water  down  to  the  bed  of  the  sea  —  to  any 
depth,  in  fact.  He  can  also  take  photographs  of 
whatever  he  perceives  there.  Signor  Pino  thinks 
that  some  day  in  the  near  future  people  will  take  a 
pleasure  trip  in  a  submarine  boat  like  his  to  see  the 
ocean-gardens  just  as  they  go  now  for  a  drive  in 
an  automobile,  or  as  they  will  go  some  day  in  an 
air-ship.    I,  myself,  would  just  as  leave  dive  into 


THE  AQUARIUM 


53 


the  water  as  fly  through  the  air.  But  we  had 
better  think  of  flying  home;  for,  see!  they  are  about 
to  close  the  doors." 

"  And  some  one  came  to  me  and  said 
The  little  fishes  are  in  bed," 

quoted  Jack,  laughing. 

"  But  they  won't  let  you  wake  them  up  again," 
said  Nora,  "  even  if  you  were  to  bring  a  corkscrew 
and  a  teakettle,  like  Humpty  Dumpty." 

"  And  when  you  found  the  door  was  shut 
You  tried  to  turn  the  handle, —  but  — " 

continued  Doodle, — "  but  we  had  better  be  on  the 
other  side  of  the  door.    Come  on." 


CHAPTER  III 


CENTRAL  PARK 

IN  WHICH  DOODLE,  JACK,  AND  NORA  EXPLORE  CEN- 
TRAL PARK. 

i.  From  Fifth  Avenue  and  Fifty-ninth  Street  to 
the  Old  Reservoir. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  spend  the  whole  day  with  us?  " 
Nora  and  Jack  exclaimed  as  they  rushed  into  Doo- 
dle's study  breathless  with  excitement.  "  We  got 
your  message  and  mother  sent  us  over.  She  said 
we  could  come  just  as  we  were;  we  needn't  stop  to 
dress;  and  so  we  picked  up  our  coats  and  hats; 
and  here  we  are.  Come  on!  Where  are  we  go- 
ing?" 

"  Suppose  we  go  to  Central  Park  to-day, —  what 
do  you  say  ?  " 

"  Oh,  we're  so  tired  of  going  to  the  Park;  we've 
been  there  so  often.  Can't  we  go  to  see  the  fishes 
again?  " 

"  I  doubt  if  you  do  know  the  Park,"  Doodle  be- 
gan ;  but  Nora  and  Jack  interrupted  with  — 

"  Why,  we've  been  going  there  all  our  lives.  We 
rode  the  donkeys  when  we  were  babies  and  we  have 
been  everywhere:  we've  rowed  on  the  Lake  and 
we've  had  picnics  on  the  grass  and  rocks ;  and  we've 
played  in  the  snow;  and  last  summer  mother  took 
us  to  lunch  at  the  Casino.    Oh,  yes!  we  know  the 

54 


CENTRAL  PARK 


55 


Park.  Please  take  us  somewhere  that  we  have 
never  been,  instead.'' 

"  Well,  as  I  was  saying,  I  don't  believe  you  know 
the  Park.  Can  you  tell  me  how  to  find  the  Lily 
Pond?" 

"  Why  no !  " 

"  Do  you  know  where  the  Block  House  is? '' 
They  shook  their  heads. 

"  Can  you  take  me  to  McGowan's  Pass  Tavern?  " 
They  looked  blank. 

"  Do  you  know  where  Harlem  Mere  is?  " 
"  No!" 

"  Well,  then  suppose  we  start  out  on  an  expedi- 
tion!" 

Before  they  started,  Doodle  told  them  all  about 
Central  Park;  that  it  is  two  and  half  miles  long 
and  half  a  mile  wide;  but  it  seems  even  larger  on 
account  of  the  many  winding  drives,  roads  and 
walks;  that  there  are  nine  miles  of  carriage-drives, 
six  miles  of  bridle-paths,  many  of  which  are  sunken, 
and  thirty  miles  of  walks;  that  there  are  thirty-six 
bridges,  or  archways,  nineteen  entrances  and 
twelve  tunnels ;  that  there  are  seats  for  ten-thousand 
persons,  many  of  which  are  in  vine-covered  arbours; 
that  altogether  the  Park  contains  about  843  acres, 
of  which  286  are  occupied  by  lakes  and  reservoirs. 

"  How  much  is  an  acre,  Doodle?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Well,  I  hardly  know  how  to  tell  you,"  replied 
Doodle.  "  Let  me  see :  Madison  Square  is  about 
seven  acres  and  Union  Square  is  about  three  and  a 
half  acres.  Central  Park,  then,  is  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty  times  as  big  as  Madison  Square  and  two 
hundred  and  forty  times  as  big  as  Union  Square. 

"  Our  Park  is  a  very  young  park,"  Doodle  went  on 
to  explain,  for  the  children  were  now  listening  in- 


56  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


tently.  "  It  is  only  a  little  more  than  sixty  years 
old.  In  1 85 1  the  citizens  of  New  York  began  to 
take  steps  to  make  a  park,  or  pleasure-ground,  and 
selected  the  tract  of  land  bounded  by  Fifth  and 
Eighth  Avenues  and  reaching  from  Fifty-ninth  to 
One  Hundred  and  Sixth  Street.  The  work  was 
finished  in  1855,  and  the  land  valued  at  $5,398,695. 
Soon  afterwards  the  State  Arsenal  and  grounds 
were  purchased  for  $275,000,  and  added  to  the 
Park.  You  know  the  Arsenal?  It  is  the  old  Men- 
agerie building. 

"  I  wonder  what  Peter  Minuit  would  think  of 
such  a  price,  when  he  bought  the  whole  Island  of 
Manhattan,  as  I  told  you,  for  twenty-four  dollars! 
In  1859,  the  boundary  was  extended  to  One  Hun- 
dred and  Tenth  Street;  and  in  1864,  Manhattan 
Square,  a  space  of  nineteen  acres  near  Seventy- 
first  and  Eighty-first  Streets  and  Eighth  Avenue, 
was  included. 

"  You  have  no  idea  what  a  great  work  it  was  to 
turn  this  barren  wilderness  of  dreary  rocks,  swampy 
valleys  and  stagnant  fens  into  the  sylvan  spot  you 
know,  or  rather  that  you  don't  know.  We  are  told 
that  '  It  was  for  the  most  part  a  succession  of 
stone-quarries,  interspersed  with  pestiferous 
swamps.  The  entire  ground  was  the  refuge  of 
about  five  thousand  squatters,  dwelling  in  rude  huts 
of  their  own  construction,  and  living  off  the  refuse 
of  the  city  which  they  daily  conveyed  in  small  carts, 
chiefly  drawn  by  dogs  from  the  lower  part  of  the 
city  through  Fifth  Avenue  (then  a  dirt  road  run- 
ning over  hills  and  hollows).  This  refuse  they 
divided  among  themselves  and  a  hundred  thousand 
domestic  animals  and  fowls,  reserving  the  bones 
for  the  bone-boiling  establishment  situated  within 


CENTRAL  PARK 


57 


the  area.  Horses,  cows,  swine,  goats,  dogs,  cats, 
geese  and  chickens  swarmed  everywhere,  destroy- 
ing what  little  verdure  they  found.  Even  the  roots 
in  the  ground  were  exterminated  until  the  rocks 
were  laid  bare,  giving  an  air  of  utter  desolation  to 
the  scene,  made  more  repulsive  from  the  odours  of 
the  decaying  organic  matter  which  accumulated  in 
the  beds  of  the  old  watercourses  that  ramified  the 
surface  in  all  directions,  broadening  out  into  reek- 
ing swamps  wherever  their  channels  were  inter- 
cepted. These  people  who  had  thus  over-run  and 
occupied  the  territory  were  principally  of  foreign 
birth,  with  but  very  little  knowledge  of  the  English 
language  and  with  very  little  respect  for  the  law. 
Like  the  ancient  Gauls,  they  wanted  land  to  live 
on,  and  they  took  it ;  and,  like  the  Gauls,  they  pre- 
pared to  defend  their  occupancy  at  the  very  sugges- 
tion of  its  invasion;  no  matter  by  whom.  Such 
was  the  danger  of  the  situation  that  the  designer  of 
the  Park  was  compelled  to  go  armed  while  making 
his  studies,  and,  in  addition  to  this,  to  carry  an 
ample  supply  of  deodorizers.' 

"  It  was  a  great  task  to  alter  and  beautify  such  a 
desert.  Wisely  enough  the  designers  left  much  of 
the  natural  rock,  which  forms  a  distinctive  feature 
of  the  Park ;  and  then  they  scooped  out  valleys  and 
ravines,  planted  long  stretches  of  grassy  sward, 
drained  the  marshes  and  converted  them  .into  lakes 
and  ponds,  and  left  what  native  trees  they  could 
and  planted  many  others  from  far-away  states  and 
foreign  countries.  Carriage-drives,  bridle-paths  and 
winding  walks  they  had  to  devise  before  they  embel- 
lished every  nook  and  corner  with  flowering  trees 
and  shrubs.  As  early  as  1862,  the  Menagerie  was 
started.    The  animals  were  housed  in  the  Arsenal, 


58  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


while  a  little  deer-park  was  situated  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  Peo- 
ple soon  began  to  take  interest  in  the  Park  and  many 
gifts  were  bestowed  upon  it, —  particularly  statues. 

"  The  first  gift  was  the  bronze  bust  of  Schiller, 
presented  by  the  German  residents  in  1859  and 
which  is  placed  in  the  Ramble,  and  the  second 
one  was  the  large  bronze  bust  of  the  German  trav- 
eller, Humboldt,  which  they  gave  in  1869.  Among 
the  others  are  a  statue  of  Professor  Morse,  the  in- 
ventor of  the  telegraph,  near  the  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Seventy-second  Street  entrance ;  an  enormous  bust 
of  the  Italian  revolutionist,  Mazzini,  on  the  West 
Drive  near  Seventy-second  Street;  a  bronze  statue 
of  Daniel  Webster,  not  far  away  from  Mazzini;  a 
statue  of  Alexander  Hamilton  on  the  East  Drive 
northwest  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum;  and  sev- 
eral statues  and  busts  in  the  Mall.  Besides  these, 
we  must  look  for  the  Soldier  of  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment, commemorating  the  soldiers  who  lost  their 
lives  in  the  Civil  War,  on  the  West  Drive  near  Maz- 
zini's  bust;  the  Pilgrim,  in  memory  of  the  Landing 
of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  on  Plymouth  Rock  in  1620, 
standing  near  the  Lake,  where  the  roadway  crosses 
the  Eastern  Drive;  the  Eagles  and  Goat,  east  of  the 
Mall;  the  Falconer,  not  far  from  Webster's  statue; 
the  Tigress  and  Young,  west  of  the  Terrace;  and  the 
Still  Hunt,  not  far  from  the  Obelisk  overlooking  the 
East  Drive." 

"  Doodle,"  asked  Jack,  "  why  are  the  entrances  to 
the  Park  called  '  Gates,'  and  there  are  no  gates  ?  " 

"  The  original  idea  was  to  build  nineteen  deco- 
rative gates ;  and  like  the  White  Queen  in  Alice  in 
the  Looking  Glass,  who  used  to  scream  before  any- 
thing happened,  the  Park  people  named  the  gates 


CENTRAL  PARK 


59 


before  they  were  erected.  I  wonder  if  I  can  name 
them  all : 

"  The  Fifth  Avenue  Gates  are  the  Scholars'  at 
Fifty-ninth  Street;  College  Gate  at  Sixty-seventh; 
the  Childrens'  at  Seventy-second;  the  Miners'  at 
Seventy-ninth;  the  Engineers'  at  Ninetieth;  the 
Woodmen's  at  Ninety-sixth ;  the  Girls'  at  One  Hun- 
dred and  Second;  and  the  Pioneers'  at  One  Hun- 
dred and  Tenth.  There  are  two  Sixth  Avenue 
Gates  —  the  Artists',  at  Fifty-ninth  Street,  and  the 
Farmers'  at  One  Hundred  and  Tenth.  Seventh 
Avenue  also  has  but  two  —  the  Artisans'  at  Fifty- 
ninth  Street  and  the  Warriors'  at  One  Hundred  and 
Tenth.  The  Eighth  Avenue  Gates  are  the  Mer- 
chants' at  Fifty -ninth  Street;  the  Women's  at  Sev- 
enty-second ;  the  Hunters'  at  Seventy-ninth ;  the 
Mariners'  at  Eighty-fifth ;  the  Gate  of  All  Saints  at 
Ninety-sixth ;  the  Boys'  at  One  Hundredth ;  and  the 
Strangers'  at  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street." 

Doodle  then  told  them  as  they  walked  along  that 
the  most  attractive  features  in  the  Park  are  the 
trees  and  flowering  shrubs,  and  that  it  would  re- 
quire a  long  long  time  to  learn  all  the  varieties  of  the 
ordinary  trees  that  are  there.  For  instance,  there 
are  fifteen  different  kinds  of  elms ;  nineteen  of  ma- 
ples; fourteen  of  birches;  thirteen  of  oaks;  ten  of 
the  cherry;  nine  of  the  willow;  nine  of  the  pine; 
eight  of  the  hickory;  and  six  of  the  yew;  that  alto- 
gether there  are  more  than  a  million  and  a  half 
trees  and  shrubs ;  and  besides,  there  are  many  choice 
varieties  from  foreign  countries,  most  of  which  are 
labelled. 

"  Many  of  the  trees  you  know,"  continued 
Doodle,  "  cypress  trees  and  cedar  trees,  larches, 
firs  and  pines ;  the  oaks  and  elms ;  walnuts,  chestnuts, 


6o  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


butternuts,  poplars,  beeches,  birches  and  lindens; 
aspens  that  tremble  with  the  slightest  breeze; 
cottonwoods,  honey-locust,  ailanthus,  alders,  moun- 
tain-ash, catalpas,  willows,  sycamores  and  per- 
simmons,—  all  of  these  you  know;  I  am  sure  you 
do. 

"  I  doubt,  however,  if  you  have  ever  noticed 
the  lovely  English  hawthorns  that  blossom  in 
masses  of  pink  and  white  in  the  early  spring;  and 
I  am  certain  that  you  could  not  pick  out  the  Ken- 
tucky Coffee  Tree;  the  Smoke  Tree;  the  Silver 
Bell;  the  Japanese  Quince;  the  Japan  Pagoda;  the 
Japan  Lemon;  the  Japan  Cedar;  the  Cucumber 
Tree;  the  Chinese  Golden  Larch;  the  Deodar;  the 
Cedar  of  Lebanon;  the  Chinese  Cork;  the  Double 
Flowering  Chinese  Crab  Apple;  the  Mahaleb 
Cherry;  or  the  Gingko  Tree?    Now,  could  you?" 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  the  Plaza,  the 
chief  entrance  to  the  Park  at  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Fifty-ninth  Street  and  they  had  stopped  to  look  at 
the  impressive  equestrian  statue  of  General  Sher- 
man, preceded  by  Victory,  that  faces  Fifth  Avenue, 
by  the  American  sculptor,  Saint  Gaudens. 

"If  we  could  take  a  bird's  eye  view  of  the 
Park,"  said  Doodle,  "  we  would  see  that  we  are 
standing  at  the  beginning  of  the  big  Drive,  which 
leads  to  the  Mall.  Turning  off  to  the  east  it  is  called 
East  Drive  and  turning  off  to  the  west,  it  is  called 
West  Drive.  Both  roads  unite  and  form  one  big 
circle  around  the  New  Reservoir.  We  are  going 
to  stroll  now  from  the  Fifty-ninth  street  entrance 
along  the  path  by  the  Drive  a  little  way  and  then 
past  the  Pond. 

"  Well,  there's  the  Pond  —  about  five  acres  of 
it.    Let  us  walk  along  beside  it.    How  picturesque 


CENTRAL  PARK 


61 


it  is!  And  see  the  swans  and  water-birds.  Here 
we  can  turn  to  the  right  and  reach  the  East  Drive. 
By  bearing  to  the  right  again  we  might  reach  the 
Menagerie,  where  some  of  the  animals  are  housed, 
and  the  Arsenal." 

"  Are  we  going  to  see  the  animals?  " 

"  No,  Jack,  I  think  not,  for  we  are  going  to  the 
Zoological  Park  soon.  Let  us  follow  the  Drive 
till  we  reach  the  Mall." 

After  a  little  the  path  turned  to  the  left.  In 
front  of  them  was  a  road. 

"  Now,  if  we  cross  the  road,  we  shall  be  there. 

"  What  a  promenade  the  Mall  is  —  wide  and 
beautiful,  arched  by  its  double  row  of  American 
elms  beneath  which  are  seats  and  statues  of  famous 
men,  as  you  see.  There  is  the  statue  of  Shake- 
speare ;  there  is  Robert  Burns ;  there  is  Sir  Walter 
Scott;  and  there,  farther  along  on  the  right,  is 
Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  a  New  York  poet  of  the  early 
Nineteenth  Century." 

Continuing  their  walk,  they  approached  the 
northern  end  of  the  Mall.  On  their  way  they 
passed  some  children  riding  in  little  carriages  drawn 
by  goats. 

"  You  see,"  said  Doodle,  "  we  are  now  in  the 
midst  of  the  amusements.  We  are  not  very  far 
from  the  Carousel  with  the  swings  and  merry-go- 
rounds;  and,  if  you  like,  Jack,  you  and  Nora  can 
have  a  drive  in  one  of  these  carriages." 

"  I  don't  ride  in  goat-carriages,"  said  Nora 
haughtily. 

"  No,  she's  waiting  to  ride  on  the  big  elephant 
in  the  Zoological  Park.  She's  crazy  to  ride  on 
Gunda,"  said  Jack. 

"  So  are  you,"  retorted  Nora.    "  You  said  so 


62 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


this  morning;  you  said  you  hoped  Doodle  would 
take  us  to  the  Zoological  Park  to-day,  so  that  we 
could  ride  on  Gunda." 

"  I  know  I  did,"  replied  Jack,  "  and  I  did,  and  — ■ 
Oh,  Doodle  won't  you  take  us  to  the  Zoological 
Park  next?    Please  darling,  dear  Doodle." 

"Oh  do!"  begged  Nora. 

"  We'll  see,"  Doodle  answered ;  "  but  here  we 
are  close  to  the  Marble  Arch  over  the  sunken 
pathway.  On  our  left  is  the  Music  Pavilion,  where 
concerts  are  given  in  the  summer.  Near  this 
stands  the  colossal  bust  of  Beethoven  with  a  figure 
of  Music  on  the  pedestal  below. 

"  And  here  on  the  left,  between  the  walk  and  the 
road  on  our  way  to  the  Terrace  there  stood  until 
very  recently,  English  oak  known  as  the  Prince  of 
Wales's  Oak.  This  wras  long  the  most  famous  tree 
in  the  Park,  for  it  was  planted  by  King  Edward 
in  1 86 1,  when  he  was  travelling  through  the 
country,  and  it  died  last  spring  shortly  before  he  did. 

"  How  lovely  it  is  here.  Spring  has  waved  her 
magic  wand  and  the  first  warm  touch  of  the  sun 
has  quickened  everything  into  life.  The  Forsythia 
is  joyfully  ringing  its  yellow  bells,  the  spice  bushes 
are  bursting  out  in  a  mass  of  yellow  blooms;  the 
snow-white  Bridalwreath  is  filling  the  air  with  its 
delicious  scent;  the  honeysuckle,  too,  is  sweet  on 
the  air;  the  Japanese  Lemon  tree  displays  its 
flowers  of  whipped  cream ;  and  the  privet  is  scatter- 
ing incense  from  its  white  blossoms.  Here  the 
tulip-tree  is  holding  up  its  pink  and  white  cups 
to  be  filled  with  sunlight;  over  there,  the  Judas- 
tree  flushes  pink  and  the  Dogwood  stretches  out 
its  snowy  boughs  among  the  other  trees;  here  is 
blooming  Linden  tree,  sweetly  fragrant;  over  there 


CENTRAL  PARK 


63 


a  group  of  Magnolias  are  bursting  their  white  buds ; 
here  is  a  mass  of  pink  and  white  Cherry  trees 
(how  beautiful  they  are!)  and  over  there  is  an 
English  hawthorn  foaming  with  blossoms.  We 
also  see,  crowning  the  rising  ground  at  the  north 
end  of  the  Mall  on  the  right,  a  great  purple  mist. 
What  can  it  be  ?  Nothing  in  the  world  but  clusters 
of  Wistaria  that  have  completely  covered  the  per- 
gola. And  behind  the  pergola,  across  a  road,  is  the 
restaurant  known  as  the  Casino.  But  enough  talk 
of  flowers,  and  trees,  and  flowering  shrubs,  and 
pergolas.  Come  along  and  let  us  take  a  few  steps 
more.,, 

They  now  reached  the  road  at  the  north  end 
of  the  Mall.    Doodle  led  the  way  across  it : 

"  Now  we  have  come  to  the  Terrace  at  which 
the  Mall  ends.  This  is  one  of  the  most  admired 
places  in  the  Park.  You  see  it  is  built  of  yellow- 
tinted  stone,  delicately  carved  with  birds,  animals, 
fruits  and  flowers.  The  central  stairway  leads 
down  beneath  the  roadway,  while  the  two  wide 
flights  of  steps  on  each  side  descend  to  the  Espla- 
nade that  extends  to  the  Lake.  Vases  of  blooming 
plants  decorate  the  balustrade  at  intervals,  and  here 
is  the  large  bronze  Bethesda  Fountain,  representing 
an  angel  blessing  the  waters." 

"  What  for?  "  inquired  Nora. 

"  Jack  will  tell  you,"  Doodle  answered. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Jack.  "  You'll  have  to 
tell  us." 

"  Once  there  was  a  pool  in  Jerusalem  near  the 
sheep  market,  called  Bethesda,  famous  for  its  heal- 
ing waters ;  for  at  certain  times  an  angel  came  and 
'  troubled  the  waters,'  as  the  Bible  says,  and  then 
whoever  was  the  first  to  step  into  the  pool  after 


64  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


the  angel  had  caused  the  waters  to  move  was  cured 
of  his  disease ;  and,  therefore,  a  multitude  of  blind, 
lame  persons  afflicted  with  every  kind  of  illness 
gathered  there  in  great  numbers  to  wait  for  the 
angel's  appearance." 

"  Where  did  the  angel  come  from,  and  was  it 
a  man  or  a  woman  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Doodle.  "  Let  us  look  at 
this  one  anyhow,  which  was  designed  by  an  Ameri- 
can woman  sculptor,  Miss  Emma  Stebbins,  of 
New  York.  The  angel  is  eight  feet  high,  holds 
a  bunch  of  lilies  —  emblems  of  purity  —  in  one 
hand,  and  seems  to  have  just  alighted  on  the  rocks 
from  which  the  water  flows.  The  small  figures 
below  the  upper  basin  are  Purity,  Temperance, 
Health  and  Peace." 

For  some  time  they  enjoyed  this  pretty  view  of 
the  Terrace,  leading  directly  to  the  Lake,  which 
covers  twenty  acres,  and  which  is  always  gay  in 
summer  with  boats  and  at  intervals  in  winter  with 
skaters.  Here  in  spring  and  summer  there  is  a 
mass  of  flowers  and  blossoming  shrubs  such  as 
roses,  honeysuckle,  wistaria,  rhododendrons  and  aza- 
leas; in  the  summer,  hydrangeas  and  lilies,  plume- 
like grasses  and  the  tall  yucca  with  its  staff  of  white 
bells  make  the  spot  charming  while  the  basin  of  the 
fountain  is  usually  aglow  with  pink  and  purple 
lotus  flowers.  Perhaps  it  is  still  more  beautiful  in 
the  autumn  when  the  trees  are  turning  and  dis- 
play every  shade  of  lemon,  orange,  red,  pink  and 
purple. 

Resuming  their  walk  and  going  south,  they  soon 
reached  the  Ball  Ground.  Now  they  were  on  the 
West  side  of  the  Park. 

"  What  fine  large  trees  are  here ! "  exclaimed 


CENTRAL  PARK 


65 


Doodle.  "  That  big  rock  in  the  distance  is  called 
Umpire  Rock.  Very  often  at  certain  times  of  the 
day  it  assumes  a  purplish  hue  which  contrasts  beau- 
tifully with  the  green  grass  and  the  trees.  How 
nice  it  is  to  hear  the  leaves  rustle  above  us,  and 
watch  the  flickering  shadows !  And  what  sport  the 
boys  and  girls  have  here  —  merry,  laughing  crowds ! 

"  South  of  this  Ball  Ground  is  the  Green  or 
Common,  of  sixteen  acres,  where  the  red  flag  flut- 
tering from  the  tall  pole  is  the  signal  that  every- 
body is  free  to  walk  on  the  grass.  The  flock  of 
sheep  is  pastured  there  and  what  crowds  go  there 
to  enjoy  themselves  on  Sunday  afternoons  in  the 
summer!  Well,  we  have  gone  far  enough.  Let 
us  retrace  our  steps  to  the  Terrace.  And  from 
there,  we  will  make  for  the  bridge  that  crosses 
the  Lake  —  Bow  Bridge,  it  is  called,  and  it  is  the 
prettiest  bridge  in  the  park.  It  spans  a  narrow 
strait  of  the  lake." 

Bow  Bridge  reached,  Doodle  continued: 

"  Let  us  stop  here  and  look  at  the  boats  and 
the  swans.  This  is  the  place  to  see  the  swans. 
Aren't  they  graceful!  How  softly  they  drop  into 
the  water !  How  gently  and  yet  with  what  a  grand 
air  they  push  off  to  '  float  double,  swan  and  shadow  ' 
on  the  clear  water ! 

"  The  swans  of  Central  Park  are  no  upstart  birds, 
I  can  assure  you.  The  old  ones  can  tell  their  little 
cygnets  stories  of  how  their  stately  ancestors  used 
to  float  and  swim  over  the  blue  Alster  lakes  at 
Hamburg  and  on  the  silvery  Thames.  In  i860 
twelve  fine  swans  were  sent  to  the  Park  as  a  pres- 
ent from  the  city  of  Hamburg;  and,  when  nine 
died  soon  after  their  arrival,  more  were  sent.  Not 
long  afterwards  the  Vintners'  Company  of  London 


66  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


sent  twelve  pairs  and  the  Dyers'  Company,  thir- 
teen pairs,  from  the  Thames.  The  Thames  swans 
are  famous.  In  England,  the  swan  is  a  royal  bird ; 
and  all  stray  swans  not  identified  belong  to  the 
Crown.  The  bills  of  the  birds  are  always  nicked, 
therefore,  and  the  swan-nicking,  which  takes  place 
in  the  spring,  is  quite  an  exciting  season  for  the 
little  birds.  The  swan-mark  is  cut  in  the  upper 
mandible. 

"  In  olden  times  the  King's  Swan-keeper  was  a 
very  important  personage.  The  male  swan  is  called 
a  Cob  and  the  female  swan,  a  Pen,  and  it  is  the 
Cob  that  sits  up  so  proudly  on  the  water.  Mrs.  Swan 
swims  much  lower  than  her  noble  spouse.  The 
swan's  nest  is  a  great  mass  of  rushes,  reeds,  flags 
and  coarse  water-side  plants,  pitched  on  the  ground 
near  the  water.  The  Pen  lays  six  or  seven  greenish 
white  eggs  and  it  takes  six  weeks  to  hatch  them; 
and  during  that  time  the  Cob  keeps  guard  against 
all  invaders  and  often  sits  on  the  nest  to  give  Mrs. 
Swan  a  rest.  The  little  ones  are  not  very  hand- 
some. You  remember  the  Hans  Andersen's  story 
of  the  Ugly  Duckling,  don't  you?" 

"  I  do,"  said  Jack. 

"  I  don't,"  said  Nora. 

"  No,  you  don't  know  it,  Nora,  Doodle  read  it 
to  me  the  day  you  were  in  bed  with  that  bad  sore 
throat,"  Jack  explained. 

"  I'll  have  to  read  it  again  then,"  answered 
Doodle,  "  and  we'll  also  read  Mrs.  Browning's 
beautiful  Romance  of  a  Swan's  Nest,  if  you  will 
remind  me." 

"  Is  that  the  one  that  begins  '  Little  Ellie  sits 
alone,'  "  said  Nora,  who  was  very  fond  of  poetry, 
"  I  love  that." 


CENTRAL  PARK 


67 


"  I  think  the  swans  and  other  aquatic  birds  seem 
to  enjoy  midsummer  more  than  any  other  time  of 
the  year,  for  the  reeds  and  grasses  are  so  high  and 
so  full  of  insects.  They  can  always  have  a  nice 
salad.  They  love  to  hide  in  the  greenery  of  the 
banks  and  islands  as  much  as  they  enjoy  sailing  on 
the  cool  waters  of  the  lake  and  pond. 

"  Let  us  cross  the  bridge  now,"  continued  Doodle, 
"  and  stroll  about  the  Ramble." 

"  Talking  about  birds,"  .  Doodle  continued, 
"  somebody  gave  the  Park,  in  1864,  a  present  of 
seven  pairs  of  English  sparrows ;  and  they  proved 
a  very  unfortunate  gift.  These  birds  bred  so  fast 
and  are  so  cross  to  other  birds  and  are  such  hot 
little  fighters  and  generally  so  hard  to  live  with, 
that  they  have  driven  nearly  all  of  our  native  birds 
away.  They  haven't,  however,  disturbed  the  hun- 
dreds of  squirrels  that  are  so  tame  and  yet  so  lively." 

By  this  time  they  had  crossed  the  bridge.  A 
few  rods  of  walking  up  a  little  slope  and  to  the 
right  and  the  party  was  deep  in  this,  in  some  re- 
spects, the  most  delightful  part  of  the  Park,  and 
Doodle  went  on: 

"  Here  we  find  winding  paths,  pretty  little 
bridges,  shady  nooks,  unexpected  thickets,  steps 
cut  into  the  rocks,  cool,  shady  dells,  sparkling 
streams  and  tiny  cascades  tinkling  over  mossy 
rocks.  Every  inch  of  ground  has  been  so  skilfully 
used  that  the  Ramble  seems  much  larger  than  it 
really  is:  it  is  quite  wild  enough  to  suggest  the 
woods.  Let  us  try  to  find  the  bust  of  Schiller  that 
I  told  you  about." 

After  wandering  about  a  little  they  finally  dis- 
covered the  effigy  of  the  great  German  poet. 

"  Here  he  is  at  last,"  exclaimed  Doodle,  "  and 


68  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


very  secluded,  too.  And  what  do  you  think  of 
Schiller?" 

Nora  declared  that  the  poet  looked  very  lonely 
in  that  out-of-the-way  place,  half  buried  in  the 
trees  and  shrubs. 

The  Ramble  was  very  charming  in  its  spring  attire 
for  so  many  shrubs  were  on  the  point  of  blooming 
while  others  were  quite  advanced.  After  leaving 
Schiller,  they  climbed  the  steep  little  hill  and  soon 
reached  the  Cave. 

"  Here  is  the  Cave,"  said  Doodle.  "  We  will  go 
down  the  steps  cut  in  the  rock  and  go  through. 
How  dark  and  damp  and  dismal  it  is !  " 

"  It  makes  me  think  of  ogres  and  robbers,"  said 
Jack. 

"  I  don't  like  it,"  Nora  half  whispered,  taking  hold 
of  Doodle's  hand. 

"  Now  that  we  have  come  out,  there,  just  to  the 
north,  is  the  Belvedere,"  said  Doodle.  "  If  we  like 
we  can  climb  to  the  top  of  the  tower,  and  get  a  fine 
view  of  the  Park  and  the  City." 

No  sooner  said  than  done. 

"  We  are  now  in  the  highest  part  of  the  Park. 
This  blue  water  to  the  north  of  us  is  the  Old  Reser- 
voir." 

After  enjoying  the  fine  prospect,  they  descended 
the  Belvedere's  stone  stairs,  and  stood  upon  the 
platform. 

"  We  can  leave  the  Park  here  by  the  Mariners' 
Gate  at  Eighty-fifth  Street  and  Eighth  Avenue," 
said  Doodle,  "  or,  we  can  go  east  by  the  lovely  little 
shaded  lawn,  lined  with  graceful  trees  and  shrubs, 
that  runs  between  the  Reservoir  and  Transverse 
Road  No.  3.    Turn  about  facing  the  south !  Now 


CENTRAL  PARK 


69 


on  our  left,  is  the  path  that  will  lead  us  to  something 
worth  seeing." 

A  short  walk  brought  them  to  the  great  monolith. 

"  See !  On  that  knoll  stands  the  Obelisk,  and  a 
little  beyond  it,  the  Metropolitan  Museum. 

"  Look  at  that  tall  shaft  of  red  granite,  seventy 
feet  high,  with  reverence,  for  it  is  nearly  three  thou- 
sand, five  hundred  years  old !  You  are  looking  at 
something  that  Moses  may  have  gazed  upon.  Solon 
and  Plato,  two  of  the  wisest  men  of  Greece,  certainly 
saw  it,  for  they  studied  in  the  famous  college  of 
priests  in  the  city  of  Heliopolis,  where  it  was  set  up 
with  its  companion  in  1650  B.  C,  more  than  three 
thousand  years  ago,  by  Thothmes,  the  Third,  King, 
or  Pharaoh,  of  Egypt.  Heliopolis  was  the  city  of 
the  Sun  whom  the  Egyptians  worshipped  as  the 
god  Ra." 

"What  kind  of  a  city  is  Heliopolis,  Doodle?" 
asked  Jack. 

"  There  is  no  Heliopolis  now,"  Doodle  replied, 
"  nothing  but  some  blocks  of  stone  and  one  enormous 
obelisk, —  one  of  the  oldest  in  Egypt." 

"  What  is  an  obelisk,  Doodle?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  You  are  looking  at  one,"  was  the  answer,  "  an 
Egyptian  shaft,  or  column,  covered  with  inscrip- 
tions. The  name  is  Greek  and  means  roasting-spit, 
for  when  the  Greeks  went  to  Egypt  and  saw  these 
peculiar  monuments  they  described  them  as  skewers, 
or  roasting-spits.  The  Egyptians  called  this  kind 
of  shaft  tekhen,  but  nobody  knows  what  that  word 
means. 

"  Our  obelisk  and  its  companion  were  more  than 
a  thousand  years  old  when  Augustus  Caesar  took 
them  to  Alexandria  in  the  year  22  or  23  B.  C.  It 


70  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


was  not  very  far  to  go,  but  it  must  have  been  a  task 
to  move  them.  In  Alexandria  they  became  known 
as  Cleopatra's  Needles  and  the  name  still  clings  to 
them.  When  George  IV.  became  King  of  England 
in  1820,  the  Egyptians  gave  one  of  them  to  him  for 
a  present,  and  this  now  stands  on  the  Thames  Em- 
bankment. 

"  Ours  was  a  present  from  the  Khedive  of  Egypt 
in  1879.  The  great  question  was  how  to  get  it 
here.  Mr.  William  H.  Vanderbilt  gave  the  neces- 
sary money  to  bring  it.  The  great  question  was 
hozv  to  get  it  here,  because  it  was  so  tall  and  so 
heavy,"  Doodle  repeated. 

"  How  much  does  it  weigh  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Four  hundred  and  forty  thousand  pounds.'' 

"  Whew  !  "  exclaimed  Jack. 

"  Whew!"  echoed  Nora. 

"  How  did  they  manage?  "  asked  Jack. 
"  Lieutenant-Commander  Gorringe,  who  was  given 
charge  of  the  whole  matter,  had  made  in  this  coun- 
try under  his  orders,  special  machinery  which  he 
took  to  Alexandria.  This  was  put  up  there,  and  the 
great  stone  was  lifted  from  its  pedestal  without  any 
harm.  Then  a  steamer,  the  Dessoug,  was  bought 
for  its  passage,  and  Cleopatra's  Needle  was  en- 
cased in  oak-planks  and  then  put  into  the  hull  of  the 
boat.  The  Dessoug  left  Alexandria  in  June,  1880, 
and  arrived  here  in  July;  but  it  was  not  until  the 
next  January  that  the  obelisk  was  set  up  and  dedi- 
cated. The  reason  we  know  so  much  about  our 
obelisk  is  that  on  the  claws  of  those  bronze  crabs 
that  you  see  at  the  base,  the  Greek  engineer  who  put 
up  the  obelisk  in  Alexandria  nineteen  hundred  odd 
years  ago  inscribed  his  name  and  the  date." 


CENTRAL  PARK 


71 


"  Why  did  he  choose  crabs,  Doodle  ? "  asked 
Nora. 

"  Only  for  ornament.  He  supported  the  obelisk 
on  metal  rods,  and  these  were  passed  through  the 
bodies  of  bronze  crabs  for  the  sake  of  ornament." 

"  Does  anybody  know  what  the  writing  on  the 
obelisk  means  ?  "  Nora  inquired. 

"  Yes.  There  are  two  inscriptions :  one  refers 
to  Thothmes  the  Third,  and  the  other  to  Rameses 
the  Second;  both  are  complimentary.  Each  king 
calls  himself  '  beloved  of  the  Sun-god  Ra,'  whom  he 
considers  as  his  father;  and  he  calls  Egypt,  over 
which  he  reigns,  the  greatest  of  all  kingdoms. 

"  I  wonder  what  the  Obelisk  thinks  of  the  New 
World ;  if  it  ever  longs  for  the  sands  of  the  desert, 
the  broken  columns  lying  on  the  ground,  the  palm- 
trees  and  the  sunsets  on  the  Nile;  and  if  the  rays 
of  Ra,  to  whom  it  is  dedicated,  ever  warm  it  as 
they  did  in  the  land  of  the  Sphinx  and  the  Pyra- 
mids !  One  thing  we  do  know, —  and  that  is  that 
the  hieroglyphs  have  suffered  from  our  climate 
which  is  too  severe  for  it.  There  is  one  peculiar 
thing  about  hieroglyphs  that  I  didn't  tell  you:  you 
have  to  read  them  downwards  instead  of  across." 

The  three  now  walked  south  through  the  pretty 
glade,  until  they  reached  Conservatory  Pond,  where 
they  found  a  distinguished  company  of  little  sailors 
gathered  together,  intent  on  sailing  their  boats. 

"  I  doubt,"  remarked  Doodle,  "  if  so  many  ad- 
mirals and  captains  were  ever  seen  together  as  come 
here  daily  with  their  nurses  to  launch  their  crafts 
on  perilous  voyages.  Shall  we  stop  and  look  at 
them?" 

"  I  used  to  come  here,"  said  Jack,  "  with  my  little 


72 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


boat  —  the  Phyllis;  and  once  she  sailed  away 
from  me  to  the  middle  of  the  Pond;  and  I  cried  — 
I  was  so  silly  —  and  a  big  boy  got  her  for  me." 

"  I  was  with  you,"  said  Doodle.  "  I  remember 
perfectly.  Now  we  will  go  south,  up  the  hill,  over 
the  Drive  and  go  to  the  Casino.  There  we  will 
have  some  lunch;  and  then  we  will  explore  the 
upper  part  of  the  Park.  How  does  that  strike 
you?" 

"  Fine !  "  exclaimed  Jack. 

"  Fine !  "  echoed  Nora. 

"What  do  you  think  of  Central  Park  now?" 
asked  Doodle,  after  they  were  comfortably  seated 
and  had  ordered  their  luncheon.  "  Do  you  like  it, 
well  enough  to  see  the  rest  of  it  or  shall  we  go 
home?" 

"  Oh,  we  don't  want  to  go  home,"  they  both  ex- 
claimed. 

"  Then  we  will  call  a  taxicab  and  drive  around 
the  upper  part  of  the  Park  after  lunch." 

2.  From  the  Old  Reservoir  North. 

After  luncheon  they  called  the  taxicab  and  started 
off,  much  refreshed  and  ready  for  exploring  the 
upper  part  of  the  Park,  north  of  the  Old  Reservoir, 
which  was  very  unfamiliar  to  the  children. 

Flying  up  the  East  Drive  they  again  passed  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  and  the  Obelisk,  which  had  a 
new  interest  for  them,  and  came  to  the  big  Reser- 
voir that  occupies  a  hundred  and  nine  acres  and  ex- 
tends almost  the  entire  width  of  the  Park  from 
Fifth  to  Eighth  Avenue  and  from  Eighty-seventh 
to  Ninety-sixth  Streets.  They  enjoyed  seeing  the 
other  cabs  and  carriages  and  the  occasional  horse- 
back riders  galloping  along  the  Bridle  Path  that 


CENTRAL  PARK 


73 


also  encircles  this  big  sheet  of  water.  Their  cab 
swept  round  to  the  left  and  then  took  them  along 
the  West  Drive.  On  their  right  lay  the  big  North 
Meadow,  the  grassy  lawn  of  nineteen  acres  where 
picnic  and  May-parties  enjoy  themselves  in  perfect 
freedom,  and  beyond  the  North  Meadow  and  on 
their  left  the  pretty  Lily  Pond  near  the  entrance  of 
Eighth  Avenue  and  One  Hundredth  Street. 

From  the  Lily  Pond,  they  flew  up  the  West  Drive 
and  around  the  circle  at  the  top  of  the  hill  —  the 
Concourse.  As  the  cab  whirled  about  here  Doodle 
explained  that  they  were  looking  upon  historic 
ground.  North  of  them  were  both  Washington 
Heights  and  Harlem  Heights,  famous  in  the 
strife  between  the  American  and  the  British  sol- 
diers. 

"  Let  us  leave  the  cab  here,"  said  Doodle,  telling 
the  chauffeur  to  await  them  at  the  gate  at  One  Hun- 
dred and  Tenth  Street  and  Lenox  Avenue. 

"  Now  we  will  find  the  Block  House,"  said  Doo- 
dle.   "  It  lies  to  the  east  and  north  across  the  drive." 

Walking  in  the  direction  named  they  soon  ap- 
proached, through  the  trees  and  underbrush,  the  ris- 
ing ground.  On  a  hill  top  before  them,  with  a  pre- 
cipitous fall  of  great  ragged  rocks  to  the  east  of  it, 
and  with  rocky  approaches  on  the  other  three  sides, 
stood  the  old,  four-square  Block  House,  from  the 
loopholes  and  top  of  which  a  raking  fire  would  have 
done  desperate  execution  among  any  band  of  Red- 
coats that  might  have  ventured  to  storm  it. 

"  What  is  it  for,  and  why  was  it  built?  "  queried 
Jack. 

Doodle,  by  way  of  reply,  pointed  to  a  bronze 
tablet  over  the  massive  iron  door  on  the  west  wall, 
on  which  was  inscribed : 


74  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  This  blockhouse  was  part  of  a  line  of  fortifi- 
cations extending  from  the  Hudson  to  the  Harlem 
River  built  for  the  defence  of  New  York  by  its  pa- 
triotic citizens  during  the  War  of  1812-1815.  This 
tablet  was  erected  by  The  Woman's  Auxiliary  to  the 
American  Scenic  &  Historic  Preservation  Society, 
A.  D.,  1905." 

"  Such,"  said  Doodle,  "  is  the  purpose  of  this 
bellicose  relic  of  earlier  and  troubled  days,  when  we 
and  the  Old  Country  were  at  swords'  points." 

Jack  jumped  for  the  lowest  of  the  loopholes  and 
peered  into  the  enclosure  within,  half-expecting  to 
be  challenged  by  some  sturdy  compatriot,  musket 
in  hand,  whom  he  thought  might  still  haunt  this 
fortification.  Nora  was  lifted  by  Doodle  till  her 
eyes  were  level  with  the  aperture  in  question  and 
she,  too,  had  her  glimpse. 

Jack  meantime  had  pulled  out  his  dangerous- 
looking  jackknife  and  was  busily,  if  not  very  effect- 
ually, boring  and  prodding  into  the  mortar  that  held 
the  old  stones  strongly  together. 

"What  now!"  said  Doodle.  "Why  this  spirit 
of  vandalism  and  destruction?  Have  you  no  rev- 
erence for  a  valued  relic  of  our  histofic  past?  " 

Jack  did  not  seem  disturbed  by  the  question,  but 
kept  busily  at  work. 

"  I  am  trying  to  dig  out  some  British  bullets  that 
I'm  sure  were  shot  into  this  fort  one  hundred  years 
ago,"  he  vouchsafed. 

Doodle  smiled :  "  Many  a  youngster,  older  now 
than  your  old  Doodle,  has  probed  these  gray  walls 
with  the  same  vain  hope.  If  ever  British  bullets 
plunged  into  the  venerable  sides  of  this  Block 
House  they  have  long  since  been  dug  out  by  such 
sappers  and  miners  as  you." 


The  Obelisk. 


CENTRAL  PARK 


75 


"  Did  the  British  ever  shoot  this  fort  full  of 
bullets  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  That,"  said  Doodle,  with  an  air  of  finality,  "  is 
a  question  I  decline  to  answer.  Let  us  now  return 
to  Lenox  Avenue  and  to  our  taxicab.  The  charges 
on  that  taxi  are  eating  up  my  entire  fortune,  and 
week  after  next  you  will  both  have  to  call  at  the 
Poor  House,  if  you  wish  to  see  your  old  Doodle." 

The  heartless  children  seemed  little  disturbed  by 
these  gloomy  prognostications;  but  they  followed 
cheerfully  Doodle's  lead.  Their  cab  was  waiting 
and  Doodle  now  told  the  chauffeur  to  take  them 
home  by  way  of  Harlem  Mere  and  McGowan's  Pass 
Tavern. 

"  This  lake,"  said  Doodle  to  the  children,  "  cov- 
ers more  than  twelve  acres,  and  is  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  the  Park  lakes.  It  takes  its  name  from  the 
Haarlem  Meer  in  Holland,  a  great  big  sea  that  was 
drained  and  converted  into  a  fertile  land,  now 
dotted  with  villages,  houses  and  luxuriant  gar- 
dens." 

The  cab  flew  along  past  the  Conservatory,  the 
Nursery  Gardens  and  past  McGowan's  Pass  Tavern. 
Doodle  now  told  them  that  in  the  old  days  before 
there  was  any  Central  Park,  and  when  New  York 
was  a  tiny  little  city  the  old  Boston  Post  Road 
passed  through  a  kind  of  ravine  at  about  what  is 
now  One  Hundred  and  Sixth  Street.  At  the  en- 
trance of  this  valley  there  was  a  path  called  Mc- 
Gowan's Pass.  Several  skirmishes  were  fought 
here  during  the  Revolutionary  War  and  here  the 
American  troops  camped  on  November  24,  1783, 
the  night  before  they  marched  into  New  York  when 
the  British  evacuated. 

"  Now  for  home !  "  said  Doodle. 


76  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


The  New  Reservoir  was  passed  again,  the  Obe- 
lisk, and  the  Museum.  Then,  in  a  few  moments, 
swinging  round  to  the  left,  the  taxicab  swept  out  of 
the  gate  at  Seventy-second  Street  and  Fifth  Av- 
enue, while  the  party  waved  "  an  revoir  "  to  Central 
Park. 


CHAPTER  IV 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK 
PART  I 

IN  WHICH  THE  LONG-LOOKED  FOR  VISIT  AT  LAST 
TAKES  PLACE;  JACK  AND  NORA  MAKE  THE  AC- 
QUAINTANCE OF  MANY  STRANGE  ANIMALS  AND 
BIRDS  AND  HEAR  STORIES  REGARDING  THEIR 
HABITS  AND  CHARACTER. 

"  Well,  I  am  glad  we  are  here  at  last ! "  ex- 
claimed Jack,  as  Doodle,  Nora  and  he  stepped  out 
of  the  Subway  Terminus  at  One  Hundred  and 
Eightieth  Street  and  walked  down  the  stairs.  "  I 
thought  we  should  never  get  here,  and  I  have  been 
wanting  to  come  for  years." 

"  And  so  have  I,"  said  Nora,  "  for  years  and 
years;  and  now  here  we  are !  Oh !  we  are  going  to 
drive  there! "  she  added,  as  Doodle  entered  into  ne- 
gotiations with  a  cabman. 

Everything  being  satisfactorily  arranged,  they 
were  soon  spinning  along  the  Boston  Post  Road, 
with  the  Bronx  Lake  on  their  right  and  the  Zoolog- 
ical Park  on  their  left  in  the  beautiful  garb  of  early 
summer.  First  they  passed  the  Boat  House  on  their 
right,  and  then  the  Buffalo  Entrance  on  their  left, 
catching  a  glimpse  of  the  shaggy  buffaloes  grazing  in 
their  enclosure.  The  obliging  cabman  stopped  a 
moment,  so  that  they  could  see  these  animals,  roam- 
ing at  will  in  their  twenty  acres  of  meadow  land. 

77 


78  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


DIRECTORY 

TO 

NEW  YORK  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK 


Administration  Bldg.,  8. 
Alaskan  House,  32. 
Alligator  Pool,  36. 
Antelope  House,  50. 
Bear  Dens,  37. 
Beaver  Pond,  29. 
Biological  Laboratory, 
28  A. 

Bird  House,  Aquatic,  5. 
Bird  House,  Large,  7. 
Bison,  51. 
Boat  House,  54. 
Buffalo  Herd,  52. 
Burrowing  Animals,  42. 
Cage,  Flying,  4. 
Camel  House,  39. 
Deer,  Asiatic,  1. 
Deer,  American,  30. 
Deer,  Axis  and  Sika,  2. 
Deer,  Fallow,  53. 
Deer,  Red,  10. 
Deer  House,  Small,  49. 
Duck  Aviary,  3. 
Elephant  House,  20. 
Elk  Range,  21. 
Feed  Barn,  27. 
Flying  Cage,  4. 
Fountain,  Rockefeller, 

13- 


Fox  Dens,  23. 
Goats,  Mountain,  48. 
Lion  House,  15. 
Llama  House,  38. 
Lydig  Arch,  47. 
Mammal  House,  Small, 
35- 

Mountain    Sheep  Hill, 
44- 

Ostrich  House,  43. 
Otter  Pools,  31. 
Pavilion,  Shelter,  26. 
Pheasant  Aviary,  40. 
Polar  Bear  Den,  37. 
Prairie  Dogs,  41. 
Primate  House,  17. 
Puma  and  Lynx  House, 
33  A. 

Raccoon's  Tree,  44  A. 
Reptile  House,  34. 
Restaurant,  46. 
Riding  Animals,  6. 
Rocking  Stone,  45. 
Sea  Lion  Pool,  12. 
Service  Bldg.,  28. 
Subway  Station, 
Totem  Pole,  32. 
Turkeys,  Wild,  33. 
Wolf  Dens,  22. 


Zebra  Houses,  14. 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  79 


PLAN  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK 


8o  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Perhaps  you  know,"  said  Doodle,  "  that  the 
American  Buffalo,  or  Bison,  that  once  roamed  all 
over  the  Western  Plains,  is  nearly  extinct.  The 
buffalo  sheds  his  coat  in  the  spring,  and  about 
October  or  November  puts  on  his  extra  winter 
clothing.  His  disposition  is  fairly  good,  though  he 
is  often  stubborn.  Sometimes,  however,  an  old 
bull  grows  vicious  and  has  to  be  separated  from  the 
rest  of  the  family.  The  patriarch  of  this  herd, 
Cleveland,  was  caught  in  the  Texas  Panhandle  in 
1887. 

"  The  Park  also  owns  two  specimens  of  the  now 
rare  European  Bison,  which  were  presented  in  1904, 
by  the  Prince  of  Pless,  who  owns  a  small  herd  in 
Silesia.  The  European  Bison  has  very  long  legs 
and  a  very  short  body  ;  but  has  less  hair  on  his 
head,  neck  and  shoulders,  than  his  American  cousin. 
He  has  longer  horns,  however." 

The  next  thing  to  interest  them  as  they  drove 
along  was  the  Rocking-Stone  Restaurant  on  the 
ridge  to  the  left.  "  That  is  where  we  shall  have 
our  lunch/'  said  Doodle. 

During  their  enjoyable  drive  of  about  twenty 
minutes,  Doodle  explained  that  it  was  rather  hard  to 
plan  a  trip  around  the  Zoological  Park  because  it 
comprised  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  sixty-four 
acres  of  ground,  through  which  the  animals  were 
widely  scattered;  and,  that,  although  generally 
speaking,  the  Park  was  about  a  mile  long  and  three- 
fifths  of  a  mile  wide,  the  walks  and  paths  were  so 
numerous  that  to  go  over  the  whole  Park  in  one 
visit  would  be  impossible.  It  would,  therefore,  be 
a  good  plan  to  take  this  drive  and  get  an  idea  of  the 
whole  length  of  the  Park  and  a  glimpse  of  its  syl- 
van beauties;  arrive  at  the  chief  entrance  at  Baird 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  81 


Court;  and  then  walk  back  through  the  Park,  stop- 
ping at  the  various  houses  and  cages  on  the  way. 

Doodle  also  told  them  that  this  was  noted  as 
the  largest  and  most  beautiful  Zoological  Park  in 
the  world,  and  that  on  account  of  its  woods,  waters, 
hills,  rocks  and  meadows,  it  had  been  possible  to 
give  the  animals  so  much  space  that  they  live  al- 
most in  the  state  of  nature  to  which  they  were 
accustomed. 

As  they  crossed  the  Bronx,  at  the  Bronxdale  En- 
trance, they  were  charmed  with  the  pretty  little 
waterfall.  Next,  they  turned  into  Pelham  Avenue ; 
passed  over  Linnaeus  Bridge  spanning  Lake  Agas- 
siz,  a  pretty  sheet  of  water  occupying  five  acres  and 
dotted  with  several  islands ;  and  entered  the  Park 
at  the  Concourse  Entrance.  Driving  around  the 
circle,  they  stopped  in  front  of  the  imposing  Terrace. 

"  We  have  a  big  day's  work  before  us,"  said 
Doodle,  as  they  all  climbed  out  of  the  carriage, 
"for  we  have  got  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  more 
than  eight  hundred  mammals,  more  than  thirteen 
hundred  reptiles,  and  nearly  three  thousand  birds, — 
that  is,  if  we  try  to  see  everything." 

"Oh!  we  can  never  see  everything!"  sighed 
Nora,  as  they  walked  up  the  steps  of  the  Terrace 
and  looked  admiringly  at  Baird  Court,  with  its 
stately  buildings,  bright  flower-beds  and  evergreens. 

"  That  is  the  large  Bird  House  on  the  right," 
said  Doodle,  "  and  we  will  go  in.  What  a  noise ! 
What  squawks  and  squeaks  and  screams  and 
shrieks  from  the  Parrots,  Macaws  and  Cockatoos! 
Do  you  notice  that  the  most  beautifully  dressed 
birds  have  the  loudest  voices?  That  is  the 
Red  and  Blue  Macaw;  and  that  is  the  Blue 
and  Yellow  Macaw;  and  here  is  the  Great  Green 


82  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


Macaw ;  and  this  is  the  rarest  of  all  —  the  magnifi- 
cent Ultramarine,  or  Hyacinthine,  Macaw.  This 
bird  is  seldom  seen  in  captivity  alive,  and  when  it 
does  come  into  the  hands  of  a  dealer,  it  often  brings 
as  much  as  two  hundred  dollars.  You  see  it  is  en- 
tirely blue,  except  for  a  few  touches  of  yellow 
around  the  eyes  and  at  the  base  of  the  enormous 
black  beak.  The  beak  is  so  strong  that  this  bird 
can  crunch  up  his  perch  and  break  the  wires  of  any 
cage  in  a  few  moments.  He  is,  however,  quite 
gentle  in  disposition  and  likes  to  be  carried  about  by 
his  keeper  and  caressed.  The  bird,  strange  to  say, 
seems  to  enjoy  showing  off,  and  always  attracts  a 
crowd. 

"  The  handsome  Black  Cockatoo  and  the  beau- 
tiful White  Cockatoos,  with  their  sulphur  crests,  are 
not  lacking  in  loud  voices,  and  neither  are  the  Lead- 
beater  Cockatoos,  nor  the  Cuban  Parrots,  nor  the 
Rosella  Parakeets." 

From  Parrots'  Hall  they  passed  into  the  Main 
Hall  to  see  the  foreign  song  birds,  the  tropical  Doves 
and  Pigeons  and  the  strange  tropical  Toucans, 
giant  Kingfishers  and  Hornbills,  not  forgetting  the 
central  Flying-Cage  which  contains  a  large  array  of 
swimmers,  waders,  and  perchers,  and  the  Glass 
Court,  which  was  designed  especially  for  North 
American  song-birds. 

"  We  had  better  stop  and  look  at  the  touracous," 
said  Doodle,  "  for  they  tell  us  here  that  '  of  all  the 
thousands  of  living  birds  now  in  the  collection  of 
the  Zoological  Society,  the  most  beautiful,  perhaps, 
are  a  pair  of  white-crested  touracous.  And  unlike 
some  ornamental  creatures,  they  are  as  interesting 
as  they  are  exquisite  in  colour.  The  plumage  is  a 
rich  grass  green  with  a  large  patch  of  vivid  scarlet 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  83 


on  each  wing,  and  a  stiffly  erect  crest  tipped  with  a 
delicate  brush  of  white.  Every  movement  is  full 
of  grace,  and  from  their  slender  necks  to  their  well- 
proportioned  feet  they  are  creatures  of  beauty 
which  it  is  a  delight  to  watch.  Their  position  in 
classification  has  long  been  a  matter  of  dispute,  but 
true  to  their  character  of  two  toes  in  front  and  two 
behind,  they  are  now  usually  placed  near  the 
cuckoos,  with  a  strong  leaning  in  the  direction  of 
the  parrots,  although  they  are  absolutely  unlike  these 
latter  birds  both  in  appearance  and  actions.  The 
most  interesting  thing  about  them  lies  in  the  red 
colour  of  the  larger  wing  feathers,  this  hue  taking 
up  a  considerable  portion  of  each  side  of  the  vane  of 
the  feathers.  When  the  birds  bathe,  this  pigment 
sometimes  tinges  the  water  to  a  slight  rose  colour,  a 
remarkable  fact  when  we  realise  how  permanent 
and  difficult  of  extraction  the  pigments  of  birds' 
feathers  usually  are.  When  the  proper  succession 
of  acid  and  alkali  are  used,  this  red  colour  of  the 
touracous'  wing  can  be  extracted  and  precipitated 
in  the  form  of  a  bluish-green  powder  and  we  find 
that  it  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  pure,  metallic 
copper. 

"  '  The  source  of  this  metal  in  the  bird's  wing  is 
unknown,  although  it  has  been  suggested  that  in  a 
wild  state  the  touracou  picks  up  pieces  of  copper  or 
malachite  with  the  grit  which  they  swallow  to  aid 
them  in  grinding  their  food.  A  much  more  prob- 
able explanation  is,  that  bananas,  of  which  these 
birds  are  very  fond,  contain  traces  of  the  metal, 
and  that  by  the  accumulation  of  this,  sufficient  is 
stored  up  in  the  dermal  tissues  to  produce  the  re- 
quired percentage  in  the  wing  feathers.  As  if  one 
such  remarkable  fact  were  not  enough,  abundant 


84  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


traces  of  iron  have  been  found  in  the  green  portions 
of  the  plumage,  so  that  these  birds  are  metal  ex- 
tractors in  more  than  one  way.' 

"  You  are  both  so  fond  of  pigeons,"  continued 
Doodle,  "  let  us  see  some  of  the  rare  kinds.  One 
of  the  most  beautiful  birds  in  the  Park  is  the  Great 
Crowned  Pigeon,  a  native  of  New  Guinea.  You 
see  he  is  lavender  in  hue,  with  a  broad  band  of 
brown  on  his  back  and  wings,  the  latter  of  which 
are  ornamented  with  a  large  patch  of  white;  and 
his  eyes  are  scarlet.  He  utters  a  low  booming  cu- 
rious sound,  and  is  noted  for  his  quarrelsome  dispo- 
sition. 

"  Now  this  is  another  curious  pigeon, —  the 
Bleeding  Heart  Pigeon  from  the  Philippines." 

"  Oh  dear!  he  has  been  hurt!  "  exclaimed  Nora, 
who  had  not  caught  the  name  of  the  bird. 

"  No,  he  hasn't,"  said  Doodle.  "  His  white 
breast  has  that  strange  bloody  spot  on  it.  Isn't  it 
queer?    He  looks  as  if  he  had  just  been  stabbed." 

Doodle  next  pointed  out  the  Giant  Kingfisher, 
or  the  Laughing  Jackass,  of  Australia,  and  the 
Himalayan  Jay  Thrush,  the  latter  a  wicked  bird 
that  loves  to  murder  other  birds. 

"  The  Himalayan  Laughing  Thrush,  or  Jay 
Thrush,  is  neither  a  jay  nor  a  thrush.  He  has,  as 
you  see,  a  white  throat  and  breast;  a  high  crest  of 
white  and  pearl  grey;  and  a  jet  black  line  extending 
backward  through  the  eye.  Every  morning  and 
sometimes  during  the  day  he  and  his  mate  sing  a 
duet.  They  sit  side  by  side  —  though  they  do  not 
have  any  music  book  —  and  lean  towards  one  an- 
other with  their  bills  pointing  upward.  One  bird 
sings  something  that  sounds  like  '  bob-white,  bob- 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  85 


white '  and  the  other  makes  a  noise  that  sounds  like 
a  wild  laugh." 

"  Where  did  they  get  all  the  birds?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  A  great  many  have  been  caught  by  Mr.  Beebe, 
who  has  made  many  expeditions  and  travelled  about 
twenty-three  thousand  miles  to  study  and  to  find 
birds  for  this  Park.  He  has  been  to  Nova  Scotia, 
British  Guiana,  Venezuela,  Trinidad,  Florida,  Vir- 
ginia and  Gardiner's  Island,  and  collected,  as  we 
shall  see,  many  rare  specimens.  Then  many  rare 
birds  have  been  bought  from  various  dealers,  and 
others  given  as  presents;  so  we  have  a  large  com- 
pany of  individuals  from  Australia,  Africa,  India, 
South  America,  the  Western  Plains  and  many  other 
parts  of  the  world.  Moreover,  numbers  of  native 
birds  are  caught  every  summer  here  in  the  Park/' 

Next  they  visited  the  Lion  House ;  and,  as  Doodle 
opened  the  door,  Jack  cried  in  the  greatest  excite- 
ment : 

"  Now,  for  the  lions  and  tigers !  Hurrah  for 
the  lions  and  tigers !    Here  they  are ! 99 

The  superb  Hannibal  raised  his  head  in  disdain 
at  such  familiarity  expressed  towards  the  King  of 
Beasts  and  dropped  it  again  upon  his  paws,  while 
the  Bedouin  Maid,  Cleopatra,  Dongola  and  Sandi- 
bel  took  a  sleepy  interest  in  their  new  visitors.  It 
was  early  in  the  morning  and  the  other  party  that 
was  passing  through  this  hall  had  bored  them. 

The  splendid  tigers  fascinated  Jack  and  Nora 
quite  as  much  as  the  lions,  particularly  as  they 
were  walking  up  and  down  in  all  their  majesty 
and  soft-footed  grace.  Doodle  called  their  atten- 
tion, also,  to  Lopez,  one  of  the  finest  jaguars  in 
captivity,  telling  them  that  Lopez  was  a  native 

I 


86  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


of  Paraguay  and  that  when  he  was  captured  he 
was  sent  to  Asuncion  in  a  very  rickety  cage  and 
small  boat  on  a  long  journey  and  came  near  be- 
ing drowned  several  times.  Then  he  was  sent  to 
Liverpool  and  for  three  months  lived  in  Cross's 
wild  animal  establishment  before  he  was  shipped 
to  New  York.  "  I  know  something  about  Lopez 
that  does  not  speak  well  for  his  character,"  added 
Doodle,  and  then,  addressing  the  animal,  said: 
"  Lopez,  I  am  going  to  tell  Jack  and  Nora  what  a 
wicked  beast  you  are !  " 

The  handsome  jaguar,  however,  showed  not  the 
least  concern  as  Doodle  told  the  following  story  as 
given  by  Mr.  Hornaday : 

" '  From  the  day  of  his  arrival  at  the  Park, 
Lopez  had  never  been  one  of  the  snarling  kind. 
On  the  contrary,  he  constantly  manifested  what 
was  considered  a  playful  disposition.  Most  large 
felines  of  savage  disposition  show  it  by  snarling,  and 
charging  against  their  bars.  Lopez,  on  the  con- 
trary, seemed  anxious  to  play  with  anyone  who 
came  near  his  cage,  and  had  a  trick  of  rolling  on 
his  back,  with  his  paws  in  the  air,  quite  after  the 
manner  of  a  good-natured  house  cat. 

"  '  In  Hamburg,  a  female  jaguar,  very  nearly  full 
grown,  was  purchased  as  a  cage-mate  for  him. 
Lopez  was  the  first  animal  placed  in  the  first  fin- 
ished cage  of  the  new  Lion  House,  weeks  before 
the  workmen  had  completed  the  other  cages.  In- 
asmuch as  the  female  had  been  six  weeks  in  her 
travelling  cage,  and  sadly  cramped  for  room,  it  was 
decided  to  place  her  in  the  Lion  House  without 
delay.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  temper  of  Lopez 
toward  her,  her  cage  was  raised  to  the  level  of  his, 
and  the  two  were  placed  with  their  bars  in  close 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  87 


proximity.  Lopez  was  greatly  interested  by  the 
stranger,  and  attempted  to  play  with  her  through 
the  bars.  She  observed  him  without  any  mani- 
festation of  fear,  and  seemed  to  be  interested  by  the 
prospect  of  a  larger  cage,  and  a  companion  in  cap- 
tivity. 

"  '  For  two  days  the  female's  cage  stood  in  the 
position  described,  and  during  all  that  period 
Lopez  manifested  not  the  slightest  ill-temper  or 
displeasure  toward  the  new  arrival.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  the  Director  held,  on  the  spot,  a  con- 
sultation with  the  keepers,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
it  would  be  quite  safe  to  admit  the  female  to  the 
cage  of  Lopez.  The  doors  were  opened,  and  with- 
out the  slightest  fear  or  hesitation  the  female  jaguar 
walked  into  her  new  home. 

"  '  Instantly,  the  whole  nature  of  Lopez  changed 
—  or  rather,  his  real  nature  came  to  the  surface. 
His  scheming  for  an  advantage  had  been  success- 
fully carried  out.  With  a  savage  growl,  he  rushed 
upon  the  unsuspecting  female,  seized  her  by  the 
right  side  of  the  neck,  and  held  on,  biting  savagely. 
From  the  first  instant,  the  female  seemed  utterly 
powerless.  With  an  iron  scraper,  and  a  hardwood 
pole  ten  feet  long,  Lopez  was  beaten  over  the  head 
and  prodded  in  the  face;  but  he  only  shut  his  eyes 
and  tightened  his  grip  on  the  neck  of  his  victim. 
In  the  midst  of  his  punishment,  he  rose  from  the 
floor,  carrying  the  female  in  his  jaws  as  a  cat 
carries  her  kitten,  and  walked  to  the  opposite  side 
of  the  cage.  It  wras  nearly  a  minute  before  the 
savage  creature  was  forced  to  quit  his  hold,  and 
resist  the  attacks  made  upon  him  by  the  keepers. 
When  he  released  the  female,  she  lay  upon  the  floor, 
motionless,  and  in  two  minutes  more  was  quite  dead. 


88  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  '  The  injury  was  inflicted  by  a  square  bite,  with 
no  wrenching,  and  the  murder  was  fully  premedi- 
tated. As  an  exhibition  of  the  terrible  strength  of 
the  jaguar's  jaws,  it  was  quite  as  astonishing  as  it 
was  unexpected  and  shocking.  As  a  consequence 
of  this  act  of  treachery,  Lopez  will  live  in  solitude 
the  remainder  of  his  life/  " 

The  children  were  so  distressed  by  this  sad  story 
that  Doodle  abruptly  asked, 

"  Shall  we  go  and  see  the  Monkeys?" 

"Oh!  I  love  monkeys,"  exclaimed  Jack,  as  they 
wended  their  way  to  the  Primate  House,  where 
the  big  family  of  four-handed  animals  live.  Once 
here,  it  was  hard  to  get  the  children  away.  The 
Orang-Utan,  the  Chimpanzee,  the  Gibbon,  the 
curious  Mandrill,  the  Golden  Baboon,  the  Long- 
Armed  Yellow  Baboon,  the  Hamadryas  Baboon, 
with  the  long  side  whiskers  and  strange  cape  of 
hair,  the  Japanese  Red-Faced  Monkey,  the  Pig- 
tailed  Monkey,  the  Rhesus  Monkey,  the  Bonneted 
Macaque  (the  best  monkey  to  keep  for  a  pet  on 
account  of  his  amiable  disposition),  the  Mona,  the 
Green,  the  Red,  the  Vervet,  the  White  Collared 
Mangabey,  the  Sooty  Mangabey,  and  the  Sacred 
Entellus  of  India  were  duly  admired. 

Doodle  then  showed  them  the  Monkeys  of  the 
New  World  —  the  Sapajous,  the  Black  Spider 
Monkey,  the  Grey  Spider  Monkey,  and  the  delicate 
little  Marmosets, —  impressing  upon  the  children 
the  strange  fact  that  the  prehensile,  or  grasping, 
tail,  is  never  found  on  any  monkey  of  the  Old 
World! 

The  pretty  little  Lemurs,  with  their  long  tails, 
fine  hair,  bright  eyes  and  pointed  noses,  also  in- 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  89 


terested  the  children  very  much ;  but  they  could  not 
afford  to  spend  any  more  time  here. 

Passing  through  the  centre  of  Baird  Court  they 
stopped  to  look  at  the  Sea  Lions  that  were  diving, 
swimming,  climbing  and  cutting  up  all  kinds  of 
antics  to  the  great  amusement  of  a  crowd  of  laugh- 
ing spectators. 

"  Those  Sea  Lions  came  from  Santa  Barbara/ ' 
said  Doodle,  "  and  during  their  long  trip  they  had 
to  be  drenched  with  water  constantly  and  fed  on 
raw  fish." 

It  was  hard  to  tear  themselves  away  from  the 
Sea  Lion  Pool;  but  soon  they  were  walking  along 
the  pretty  path  leading  north  to  Cope  Lake.  They 
now  came  to  the  hill  that  rises  between  the  Fordham 
Entrance  and  Bird  Valley  where  are  situated  a 
series  of  houses  and  enclosures  occupied  by  the 
deer  of  Europe  and  Asia.  Those  who  enter  the 
Park  from  the  Fordham  Entrance  by  Osborn's 
Walk,  gain  a  fine  view  of  these  beautiful  animals. 
Here  is  the  Axis  Deer,  the  handsomest  of  all  trop- 
ical deer,  with  the  most  beautiful  coat  probably 
possessed  by  any  one  of  the  tribe;  then  come  the 
Japanese  Sika;  the  Burmese,  or  Brow  Antler  Deer; 
the  Barasinga  Deer;  the  Indian  Sambar;  the  Altai 
Wapiti ;  the  Malay  Sambar ;  the  Maral  Deer,  the 
European  Red;  Deer ;  and  the  Fallow  Deer  —  a 
beautiful  family  of  animals  and  finely  represented. 

"  Now  we  have  come  to  Cope  Lake,"  Doodle 
remarked,  "  the  happy  summer  home  of  the  big 
birds,  a  lovely  piece  of  water.  Before  we  look  at 
the  birds,  however,  I  want  to  show  you  a  wonder- 
ful nest, —  perhaps  the  biggest  nest  you  will  ever 
see.    It  weighs  more  than  four  hundred  pounds  — 


90  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


think  of  it,  a  nest  weighing  four  hundred  pounds! 
There  it  is  in  the  topmost  crotch  of  that  tall  tree 
on  the  edge  of  Cope  Lake." 

"  What  kind  of  a  nest  is  it?  99  asked  Jack,  "  and 
who  found  it  ?  " 

"  It  was  the  nest  of  a  fish-hawk,"  replied  Doodle, 
"  and  was  found  on  Gardiner's  Island,  by  Mr. 
Beebe.  Mixed  with  the  huge  sticks  are  pieces  of 
wrecked  boats,  broken  oars,  rope,  nets,  barbed  wire, 
shells,  horseshoe,  crabs  and  skeletons  of  quails;  and, 
at  the  side  of  the  nest,  are  three  nests  of  black- 
birds, who  evidently  went  there  for  protection." 

A  little  south  of  Cope  Lake  and  at  the  north 
end  of  Bird  Valley  they  found  the  Duck  Aviary 
(250  feet  long  and  150  feet  wide). 

"  Just  look  at  the  ducks,  the  green-winged  and 
blue-winged  teal,  Pintail  and  Mandarin  Ducks,  the 
Red-Head  and  Canvas  Back  and  all  the  pretty  Geese 
and  Swans,"  exclaimed  Doodle.  "  I  wish  we  had 
time  to  stay  here  longer  and  watch  them  at  play, 
but  here  is  something  even  more  attractive." 

Doodle  was  referring  to  the  enormous  Flying 
Cage,  south  of  and  close  beside  the  Duck  Aviary, 
a  tall  steel  structure  composed  of  arches  and  wire 
netting  (55  feet  high,  75  feet  wide  and  152  feet 
long)  and  enclosing  three  tall  trees,  shrubbery  and 
a  pool  of  water  100  feet  long.  In  this  large  pool, 
the  Pelicans,  Flamingoes,  Herons,  Penguins  and 
rare  tropical  ducks,  enjoy  life  and  here  the  great 
California  Condor  has  his  summer  home.  Vultures 
may  be  seen  here  sometimes  and  also  the  peculiar 
Curassow.  The  latter  is  a  striking  bird  with  a 
beautiful  black  crest  and  feathers. 

"  The  under  side  of  him,  you  see,"  said  Doodle, 


V 

U 


E 
h 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  91 


"  is  white  and  he  has  a  curious  piece  of  skin  under 
the  bill.  He  is  a  very  gentle  bird  and  is  usually 
very  quiet ;  but  when  he  is  excited,  he  has  a  curious 
way  of  raising  his  tail  over  his  back  and  drawing 
back  his  head  till  his  head  touches  his  tail.  Then 
he  walks  around  in  this  position,  squealing  and 
grunting.  He  is  a  native  of  Central  America  and 
lives  in  great  flocks  in  the  forest." 

"  Can't  you  make  him  do  it  now?  "  asked  Nora; 
but  Doodle  turned  the  subject,  drawing  attention  to 
the  American  Flamingo,  once  common  in  Florida; 
but  now  alas!  this  beautiful  bird  is  only  to  be  found 
in  the  Bahama  Islands  and  Cuba. 

"  Its  feathers  are  very  fine,"  said  Doodle,  "  and 
of  a  rich  scarlet,  though  not  so  bright  in  captivity 
as  in  a  wild  state.  When  flamingoes  are  first 
hatched,  they  have  a  suit  of  the  softest  and  whitest 
down  and  their  bills  are  straight.  When  they  get 
older,  the  bills  are  very  much  curved.  Young 
flamingoes  are  fed  on  dried  shrimps,  bread  and 
boiled  rice! 

"  The  European  flamingo  is  almost  white. 
Among  the  ibises,  storks  and  herons  we  find  the 
sacred  Ibis  of  Egypt, —  that  beautiful  scarlet  bird. 
That  queer  thing  over  there  is  one  of  the  rarest  of 
all  birds, —  the  Jabiru." 

"  What  is  he?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  The  Jabiru  is  a  kind  of  stork  and  comes  from 
Mexico,"  Doodle  answered.  "  Mr.  Beebe  says 
'  This  is  probably  the  most  comical  looking  bird  in 
the  Park,  even  going  ahead  of  the  wood  ibis,  which 
until  the  Jabiru's  arrival,  held  undisputed  sway  as 
the  greatest  idiot  of  the  collection.  An  immense, 
upturned  bill  protrudes  from  a  head  bare  of  feathers, 


92  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


but  with  a  tuft  of  hair-like  down  on  top,  which, 
standing  upright,  gives  the  bird  a  continually  sur- 
prised expression. 

"  '  His  long  neck  is  naked,  partly  black  and  partly 
flesh-coloured.  His  body  feathers  are  a  dirty  white, 
although  giving  promise  of  becoming  immaculate  at 
some  future  time,  and  he  walks,  or  rather  totters,  on 
a  pair  of  very  long  legs,  the  management  of  which 
is  a  great  perplexity  to  him.  He  is  at  his  best  —  or 
worst  —  at  meal  times,  when  he  seizes  whole  fish,  a 
foot  in  length,  gulps  them  entire,  smacks  his  bill 
and  squeals  with  delight.  He  has  a  way  of  shaking 
them  down  his  throat  by  jerking  his  head  and  beak 
sideways,  but  it  looks  exactly  like  a  person  who  is 
saying,  "  My,  that  was  good !  "  Jabiru  is  playful, 
but  as  graceful  in  his  play  as  a  seal  on  dry  land.  A 
favourite  mode  of  resting  is  on  his  entire  foot,  heel 
and  all,  and  when  seated  on  a  little  elevation  in  this 
position,  one  sees  him  silhouetted  against  the  sun, 
with  the  light  shining  through  the  loose,  crimson  skin 
of  his  neck,  the  sight  is  likely  to  remain  in  the  mind 
of  the  observer  for  a  long  time.  The  bird  has  the 
power  of  distending  this  skin,  which  then  becomes 
a  brilliant  scarlet,  and  this  gives  the  neck  an  im- 
mense diameter,  and  the  bird  a  most  bizarre  appear- 
ance. It  is  from  this  habit  that  the  bird  gets  its 
name,  the  Indian  word  Yabirii,  meaning  "  blown  out 
with  wind."  It  inhabits  South  and  Central  America 
and  even  comes  across  the  Texan  border,  so  it  is 
rightfully  included  among  the  birds  of  the  United 
States.  Very  little  seems  to  be  known  of  its  habits 
except  that  it  nests  in  high  trees  and  lays  blue-green 
eggs.' 

"  The  Penguins  are  almost  as  funny,  I  think, 
as  old  Jabiru,"  added  Doodle.    "  Whatever  they  do 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  93 


is  amusing,  whether  they  swim  or  dive  or  waddle. 
Their  wings  look  like  sharks'  fins  and  they  paddle 
about  with  them  in  a  ridiculous  fashion.  Their 
feathers  have  lost  all  softness  and  resemble  horny 
little  scales.  With  their  flat,  fish-like  eyes  they 
can  see  distinctly  under  the  water. 

"  See  if  you  can  find  the  big  Condor,  General. 
Oh,  yes!  there  he  is.  General  has  been  one  of  the 
pets  of  the  Zoological  Park  ever  since  1906.  Gen- 
eral had  just  been  hatched  when  he  was  found 
that  year  in  one  of  the  canyons  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia; and  when  he  was  three  months  old  he  was 
taken  from  the  nest  and  shipped  to  Portland,  Ore- 
gon.   There  he  lived  for  another  three  months. 

"  Like  the  Buffalo,  the  splendid  Condor  of  Cal- 
ifornia is  doomed  to  extinction.  Once  he  ranged 
the  mountains  of  the  Pacific  from  Washington  to 
Mexico  but  was  killed  off  and  now  he  lives  in  the 
coast  mountains  of  Southern  and  Lower  Califor- 
nia. He  is  one  of  the  largest  birds  of  flight  living 
to-day.  He  is  about  four  feet  long  and  his  spread 
of  wing  averages  nine  feet.  The  plumage  of  the 
male  is  sooty  black  and  his  head  and  neck  bright 
orange  and  yellow." 

"  There's  Gunda !  I  know  him  from  his  pict- 
ures," exclaimed  Jack,  as  the  handsome  Indian  Ele- 
phant appeared  near  the  Flying  Cage,  lazily  swing- 
ing his  huge  india-rubber  feet  as  he  moved  along  in 
the  performance  of  his  regular  duty  of  giving  chil- 
dren rides.  "  Do  you  know  where  Gunda  came 
from,  Doodle?" 

"  Yes ;  I  do.  He  wTas  caught  wild  in  the  interior 
of  Assam  and  arrived  here  in  1904.  He  had  a  long 
journey  didn't  he?  At  that  time  Gunda  was  about 
seven  years  old,  so  he  is  now  about  thirteen.    He  is 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


a  very  intelligent  animal  and  knows  a  great  many 
funny  tricks.  He  is  now  going  up  to  the  Pony 
Stand,  where  the  children  get  on  and  off  his  back." 

"  Do  you  think  he  minds? "  asked  Nora. 

"Minds  what?" 

"  Riding  the  children  on  his  back?  " 

"  No;  the  keepers  say  he  seems  to  like  it.  Gunda 
is  very  amiable.  They  tell  us  here  that  •  in  numer- 
ous ways  he  indicates  his  complete  satisfaction  as 
to  his  bill  of  fare  and  the  kindness  of  the  keepers. 
He  kneels  at  command,  salutes,  shakes  hands,  and  is 
also  a  banker.  If  anyone  throws  a  penny  on  the 
floor,  he  picks  it  up  and  drops  it  into  the  box  above 
his  head,  after  which  he  rings  a  bell  with  his  trunk. 
Then  he  looks  for  a  reward.  If  it  is  not  forthcom- 
ing, in  the  shape  of  forage  biscuits  or  peanuts,  he 
rings  the  bell  until  it  does  come." 

Jack  and  Nora  were  enchanted  with  the  recital 
of  Gunda's  accomplishments  and  were  also  charmed 
to  behold  him  in  the  flesh,  for  they  had  read  a  great 
deal  about  Gunda,  and  to  see  him  was  one  of  the 
objects  of  their  visit  to  the  Park. 

"  Do  you  want  a  ride  ?  "  asked  Doodle. 

"  Indeed  we  do,"  said  Nora  and  Jack  together. 

Doodle,  therefore,  took  them  to  the  Pony  Stand 
and  waited  while  they  had  their  exciting  ride. 

After  this  little  diversion,  the  three  continued  their 
walk,  still  going  south ;  and  south  of  the  Flying  Cage, 
and  to  the  right  of  the  Pony  Stand,  they  saw  the 
Aquatic  Bird  House,  where  the  big  birds  have  their 
winter  home.  Still  going  south,  they  passed  the  en- 
closure where  the  Red  Deer  were  browsing  and 
reached  the  Zebra  Houses,  situated  in  a  pretty  grassy 
meadow  of  about  six  acres, —  a  nice  play  ground  for 
these  wild  horses.    They  saw  the  Persian  Wild  Ass; 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  95 


the  Onager,  that  lives  in  Western  India  and  Belu- 
chistan;  the  Kiang,  a  native  of  Thibet;  the  strange 
little  wild  horses  called  the  Prjevalsky  Horses  from 
Western  Mongolia,  captured  in  1900  between  the 
Altai  and  Thian-Shan  Mountains;  and  the  Zebras, 
with  wide  stripes  on  their  backs,  faces  and  legs. 

"  This  one  is  the  rarest  of  all  " —  said  Doodle, — 
"  the  Grevy  Zebra." 

"Gravy!"  said  Jack.  "Why,  have  they  spilt 
gravy  over  him  ?  " 

"  I  think,"  laughed  Nora,  "  that  it  looks  more  as 
if  somebody  had  upset  the  cream  over  his  back 
and  it  had  all  trickled  down." 

"  No,  children,  you  are  wrong.  He  is  named 
for  an  ex-President  of  France  —  President  Grevy. 
This  Zebra  is  very  rare,  and  he  is  very  expensive 
(he  is  valued  at  about  $2,000)  ;  he  is  considered 
very  handsome;  and  he  is  noted  for  being  one  of 
the  largest,  rarest,  and  most  showy  of  Zebras. 
His  complete  suit  of  black  and  white  stripes  is  of 
generally  uniform  width  and  his  ears  are  large; 
and  you  see  his  stripes  extend  all  the  way  to  his 
hoofs;  and  if  you  can  find  a  tailor,  that  can  cut  and 
fit  a  better  suit  than  his,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  his 
address." 

"  He  keeps  his  stockings  up  nicely,  too,  without 
any  garters,"  said  Nora,  "  where  does  he  come 
from,  Doodle?  " 

"  From  Southern  Abyssinia  and  Somaliland ; 
and  probably  no  more  than  fifteen  are  in  captivity 
outside  of  Africa." 

Taking  the  Service  Road  south  of  the  Zebra 
Houses  and  walking  west,  they  soon  came  to  one 
of  the  handsomest  houses  in  the  Park  —  the  Ele- 
phant   House.    It    is    beautifully    carved  with 


96 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


elephants'  heads  and  other  sculptures,  and  provided 
with  roomy  cages,  each  of  which  opens  into  a  yard, 
or  corral. 

"  This  little  elephant,  with  the  small  round  ears 
and  five  toes  on  each  forefoot  is  Congo,"  Doodle 
explained.  "  Congo  comes  from  West  Africa  and 
is  very  different  from  Gunda.  The  shape  of  their 
heads  is  unlike  and  Congo's  tusks  take  a  downward 
curve.  When  Congo  was  caught  in  1905  and  ar- 
rived from  Hamburg  he  was  supposed  to  be  three 
years  old, —  so  he  is  just  about  your  age,  Nora." 

At  this  piece  of  information  Nora  surveyed  her 
contemporary  with  fresh  interest. 

"  Very  different  from  either  Gunda  and  Congo 
are  the  two  big  Soudan  African  elephants  from  the 
Blue  Nile  country,"  Doodle  continued.  "  They 
came  also  by  way  of  Hamburg,  and  were  three 
months  in  travelling.  They  are  now  about  five  or 
six  years  old.  They  cost  $2,500  each,  though  they 
are  now  worth  double  that  sum,  at  least.  When 
Kartoom,  the  male,  reaches  his  growth,  he  will 
probably  have  a  shoulder  height  of  eleven  feet  and 
will  weigh  12,000  pounds.  Sultana  will  not  be 
quite  so  large,  though  her  ears  are  just  as  large  for 
her  size,  as  are  those  of  her  royal  consort." 

"  Do  you  know,"  asked  Doodle  after  a  pause, 
"  that  the  elephant's  trunk  is  almost  as  wonderful 
as  the  hand  of  man?  It  is!  The  elephant  can 
do  almost  anything  he  pleases  with  it.  He  can  pick 
up  a  man  and  dash  him  against  a  wall  or  gather 
up  a  tiny  thing  like  a  nut  from  the  ground.  The 
trunk  is  of  enormous  strength  and  extraordinary 
delicacy.  It  contains  about  thirty  thousand  mus- 
cles; and,  therefore,  Mr.  Elephant  can  shorten  it, 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  97 


lengthen  it,  or  curve  or  bend  it  any  way  he  pleases. 
The  little  appendage  at  the  end  is  called  '  the 
finger.'  The  elephant  does  everything  with  his 
trunk  except  put  clothes  into  it.  It  is  his  drink- 
ing-cup;  the  hose  with  which  he  sprinkles  his  body; 
the  powder-puff  with  which  he  sprinkles  dust  over 
his  moistened  hide  to  protect  it  from  flies;  the 
knife  and  fork  with  which  he  breaks  off  a  leafy 
branch  or  cuts  a  blade  of  grass;  and  he  has  even 
been  known  to  use  it  as  a  kind  of  tooth-brush 
when  he  wants  to  rub  his  mouth  with  mud.  It  is 
also  his  strong  arm.  A  wonderful  thing,  indeed, 
is  the  trunk  of  an  elephant." 

In  the  same  house  they  saw  the  splendid  young 
Two-Horned  African  Rhinoceros:  Victoria,  cap- 
tured in  German  East  Africa,  near  the  head  of 
Speke  Gulf  on  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza,  in  July,  1905. 
Speke,  her  mate,  captured  in  nearly  the  same  spot,  in 
April,  1907,  died  some  time  ago. 

"  How  would  you  like  to  be  slung  under  a  pole 
and  carried  six  days'  journey  to  the  Lake  and  then 
transported  by  steamer  to  the  Uganda  Railway 
and  then  five  hundred  miles  to  Mombasa  and  then 
all  the  way  to  New  York?"  Doodle  inquired. 
"  Well,  these  two  animals  had  to  take  that  long 
and  most  uncomfortable  journey." 

"  Did  this  one  come  from  Africa,  too,  Doodle," 
asked  Jack,  as  they  walked  to  the  next  cage. 

"  No;  Mogul  is  an  Indian  Rhinoceros,  a  very 
rare  animal,  chiefly  found  in  the  swampy  plains 
of  Assam.  Mogul  arrived  here  in  1906.  Poor 
old  thing,  he  is  blind !  This  Hippopotamus,"  con- 
tinued Doodle,  turning  to  the  animal  in  question, 
"  has  never  seen  a  jungle.    He  is  a  native  American 


98  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


and  was  born  in  Central  Park  in  July,  1904.  And 
what  do  you  think  the  donor  paid  for  him?  Three 
thousand  dollars !  " 

"  That's  a  great  deal  of  money,"  said  Jack. 
"  I'd  rather  have  an  automobile  than  such  an  old 
fright  as  that." 

"  I  don't  think  he's  worth  all  that  money,  either," 
Nora  agreed.  "  There  are  a  great  many  things  I'd 
far  rather  have  than  that  old  Hippopotamus." 

"  Here  is  another  foreigner,"  said  Doodle,  call- 
ing attention  to  the  Malay  Tapir.  "  He  had  an 
awful  experience,  poor  thing.  He  was  on  a  ship, 
called  the  Mancaster  Castle;  and  when  it  was  com- 
ing through  the  Red  Sea,  a  fire  broke  out  in  her 
hold  under  the  tapir's  cage  and  the  poor  animal 
was  nearly  burned  to  death;  but  the  fire  was  for- 
tunately put  out. 

"  The  Malay  Tapir  is,  as  you  see,  half  brown 
and  half  white,  and  the  peculiar  shape  of  the  white 
patch  gives  it  the  name  of  Saddle-Back  Tapir. 

"  The  other  one  with  the  long  prehensile  nose, 
like  an  elephant's  trunk,  is  a  South  American 
Tapir." 

Walking  back  from  the  Elephant  House  to  Baird 
Court,  they  took  a  path  leading  in  a  south-easterly 
direction  from  the  Primate  House. 

"  This  path  will  take  us,"  said  Doodle,  "  to  one 
of  the  most  attractive  spots  in  the  whole  Park, — 
Beaver  Pond.  It  is  a  pretty  little  secluded  place 
that  will  make  you  fancy  you  are  in  some  far-away 
forest. 

"  Beavers  are  very  shy  and  I  doubt  if  we  see 
one  of  them.  We  certainly  shall  not  surprise  them 
at  work,  for  they  are  busy  only  at  night.  They  cut 
down  trees  and  build  dams  of  mud  and  water- 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  99 


soaked  leaves  and  are  just  as  busy  as  it  is  possible 
for  any  creatures  to  be.  The  best  time  to  see  them 
is  after  six  o'clock.  The  dam,  about  forty  feet 
long  and  four  feet  high,  was  built  entirely  by  these 
little  beavers  who  cut  down  the  trees  and  built 
their  house  also.  The  entrance  to  the  Beaver's 
house  is  always  under  the  water. 

"  Well,  that's  enough  for  the  Beavers,"  said 
Doodle,  "  and  I  think  we  had  better  wander  along 
to  the  Rocking-Stone  Restaurant  and  have  lunch 
and  a  rest;  after  that  we  will  explore  the  lower 
half  of  the  Park." 

It  was  quite  a  little  distance  from  Beaver  Pond 
to  their  destination;  but  the  way  seemed  short. 
Although  the  path  led  directly  south  to  the  Bear 
Dens,  they  could  not  stop  to  look  at  the  Bears  for 
it  was  past  one  o'clock  and  so  they  continued  their 
way,  still  walking  south  to  the  Rocking-Stone 
Restaurant,  which  with  its  flowers  and  attractive 
dining-room,  offered  a  cool  and  restful  retreat  after 
their  long  walk. 


CHAPTER  V 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK 
PART  II 

IN  WHICH  DOODLE,  JACK  AND  NORA  AFTER  LUNCH- 
ING AT  THE  ROCKING-STONE  RESTAURANT,  VISIT 
THE  REPTILES,  SMALL  MAMMALS,  MORE  BIRDS 
AND  BEASTS,  AND  SEE  ALL  THE  LATEST  STYLES  IN 
ZOOLOGICAL  FASHIONS. 

The  Rocking-Stone  Restaurant  takes  its  name 
from  the  big  granite  boulder  in  the  vicinity,  which 
can  be  made  to  swing  about  two  inches  if  a  slight 
pressure  is  exerted  at  one  angle  of  the  stone. 
There  were  too  many  other  attractions  for  the  chil- 
dren to  take  much  interest  in  this,  however;  and, 
besides,  they  were  rather  hungry.  Doodle  also 
had  an  appetite ;  and,  for  a  time,  the  broiled  chicken, 
fried  potatoes  and  other  things  that  were  invitingly 
served  absorbed  all  their  attention. 

"  There  goes  the  photographer ! "  exclaimed 
Doodle,  who  had  been  looking  out  of  the  window 
enjoying  the  beautiful  scenery  in  silence  while  Jack 
and  Nora  were  finishing  their  strawberries  and 
cream,  "  he  is  going  to  take  some  pictures  —  the 
bears  probably.  Many  persons  think  it  is  a  simple 
matter  to  photograph  a  wild  animal,  and  that  all 
they  have  to  do  is  to  take  a  snap-shot  from  the 

100 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  IOI 


walks  or  between  the  bars.  Then  they  are  sur- 
prised if  the  picture  does  not  turn  out  to  be  lifelike. 
The  fact  is  the  animal  really  has  to  be  made  to 
pose.  The  photographer  must  enter  the  cage  with 
his  camera,  and  he  must  be  accompanied  by  the 
keeper  with  his  club,  for  sometimes  the  subject  is 
frightened,  or  enraged,  and  makes  a  dash  for  the 
photographer  and  his  camera.  It  is  a  very  dan- 
gerous piece  of  work.    Well,  shall  we  go  along?" 

The  children  were  quite  ready  and  so  they  started 
off  again,  this  time  walking  west  of  the  Restaurant 
and  coming  to  the  ridge  known  as  the  Mountain 
Sheep  Hill.  The  Zoological  Park  has  always  made 
a  special  feature  of  its  wild  sheep  and  goats,  and, 
therefore,  Doodle  pointed  out  some  of  the  attrac- 
tions, such  as  the  Musk  Ox,  that  stands  between  the 
cattle  and  sheep  and  lives  in  this  hemisphere  in 
Northern  Canada  from  Great  Bear  Lake  to  Hudson 
Bay  and  on  the  northern  coast  of  Greenland.  After 
admiring  Lady  Melville,  presented  to  the  Park  by  a 
Canadian  explorer  in  November,  1909,  they  turned 
their  attention  to  the  Sardinian  Mouflon. 

"  He  is  very  proud  of  those  huge  curving  horns 
of  his,"  said  Doodle,  "  and  he  is  very  friendly  and 
very,  very  vain.  I  have  my  suspicions  that  his 
friendliness  is  a  trick  to  win  admiration.  He  is  al- 
ways posing,  at  least  the  keepers  say  so. 

"  Here  is  another  'big  horn'  sheep  —  that  is  to 
say  with  the  large  circling  horns  —  the  Arcal  Moun- 
tain Sheep.  He  lives  in  Northern  India,  Southern 
Persia,  Afghanistan,  Beluchistan  and  Thibet;  and 
here  is  one  of  the  wild  goats,  called  Tahr,  from 
the  Himalayas  of  Northern  India.  He  is  extraor- 
dinary on  account  of  his  long  hair;  and  what  a  pe- 
culiar colour  it  is  —  a  purplish  brown !    The  Tahr 


102 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


is  very  sure-footed  and  dwells  among  the  crags  and 
precipices  of  high  mountains.  The  Zoological 
Park  has  nine  of  him.  The  Persian  Ibex  is  inter- 
esting, too.  See,  there  he  is  nibbling  the  grass  over 
there  in  the  distance !  " 

They  now  came  to  some  steps  leading  down  from 
the  Rocking-Stone  to  the  Raccoon  Tree, —  a  cedar- 
tree  enclosed  by  a  fence,  near  which  a  pool  of  water 
and  a  rustic  house,  containing  ten  warm  compart- 
ments, afford  our  old  friend  Brer  Coon  all  the 
comforts  of  home. 

"  Is  he  old  Brer  Coon  that  Uncle  Remus  tells 
about  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Tobysholy  honey,"  answered  Doodle,  "  he  is 
de  ve'y  same  old  Brer  Coon,  who  knew  Brer  Rab- 
bit and  all  de  yuther  creeturs." 

"  I  don't  see  him,"  said  Jack,  peering  about  ex- 
citedly. 

"  You  are  looking  on  the  ground,"  answered 
Doodle.  "  I  see  three  little,  round,  furry  balls  in 
the  crotches  of  the  tree." 

"  Oh  yes,  now  I  see  three  'coons,"  said  Jack. 

The  attention  of  the  children  was  soon  diverted, 
however,  because  Jack  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  long 
row  of  Bear  Dens. 

"  Oh !  there  are  the  Bears ! "  he  exclaimed  and 
ran  off  to  make  their  acquaintance. 

"  What  more  could  a  bear  desire  than  he  has 
here?"  asked  Doodle.  "Look!  he  has  rocks  and 
trees  for  climbing,  and  caves  where  he  can  retire 
from  the  maddening  crowd, —  caves  where  he  can 
hibernate  in  winter,  just  as  he  does  in  his  native 
forests." 

Doodle  then  showed  the  children  the  five  species 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  103 


of  Alaska  Brown  Bears  —  calling  special  attention 
to  the  Peninsula  one,  the  second  largest  bear  in 
captivity,  and  then  to  the  Grizzlies. 

"  The  Grizzly  Bear,"  explained  Doodle,  "  is  the 
most  savage  and  dangerous  of  all  bears,  and  he  is 
rapidly  disappearing  from  the  United  States.  This 
one  is  named  Engineer." 

Next  they  looked  at  the  Black  Bears,  the  Cinna- 
mon Bears,  some  Brown  Bears  from  Europe  and 
also  the  pale  Yellow  Syrian  Bears  with  their  high 
shoulders  and  narrow  head.  "  These,"  said  Doo- 
dle, calling  attention  to  the  latter,  "  are  the  bears 
described  in  the  Bible  that  devoured  the  children 
who  spoke  so  disrespectfully  to  the  Prophet  Elisha ;  " 
and  then  noticing  the  look  of  alarm  that  Jack  and 
Nora  bestowed  upon  these  animals  added  quickly : 
"  Oh,  no !  I  don't  mean  those  special  bears.  I  am 
referring  to  their  ancestors.  I  do  not  believe  these 
Bears  have  the  slightest  desire  to  make  a  meal  of 
us.  Oh,  do  look  at  those  two  Black  Bears  stand- 
ing together  against  their  cage  with  their  paws 
through  the  bars  and  grinning!  They  want  to  at- 
tract our  attention.  Bears  are  awfully  funny  at 
play.  When  the  collection  was  first  started  and  the 
first  bears  arrived,  they  seemed  satisfied  with  their 
new  home  and  were  in  the  best  of  humour.  Mr. 
Hornaday  tells  us  that  '  When  the  grizzly  and  black 
bear  cubs  from  Alaska,  Colorado  and  the  Adiron- 
dacks  were  liberated  in  their  dens  they  galloped 
around  the  floor  a  few  times  then  fell  to  chasing 
and  wrestling  with  one  another  like  Western  school 
boys.  They  raced  mad  scrambles  up  the  rocks,  up 
the  slanting  tree  trunks  and  down  again,  round  and 
into  the  pools.' 


104  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Not  so,  however,  with  Silver  King,  the  gigan- 
tic polar  bear  (there  he  is!),  eight  or  nine  feet  long, 
caught  last  spring  in  the  Arctic  regions  (latitude 
75°)  by  Paul  Rainey  and  Harry  Whitney.  They 
lassoed  him,  while  he  was  asleep  on  an  ice-floe,  and 
took  him  on  board  the  steam-sealer  Boethic. 

"  When  the  Boethic  arrived  at  City  Island,  twenty 
men  worked  ten  hours  before  they  could  get  him  off 
the  boat  and  into  his  den  in  the  Zoological  Park. 
He  fought  so  desperately  that  they  had  to  chloroform 
him  and  it  took  four  pounds  of  chloroform  to  make 
him  quiet!  When  he  arrived,  the  other  two  polar 
bears,  Greeley  and  Aurora  Borealis,  greeted  him  with 
growls.  Arctic  Queen,  the  other  polar  bear  that  was 
captured  at  the  same  time,  gave  no  trouble.  This 
expedition  also  brought  back  some  musk  oxen,  a  blue 
fox,  some  Eskimo  dogs  and  a  baby  walrus,  named 
Flip.  Flip  is  valued  at  $1,000;  for  walruses  in  cap- 
tivity are  rare.  On  the  way  home,  Flip  was  fed  on 
cooked  oatmeal;  but  now  Flip  gets  three  pints  of 
soft  clams  a  day.  The  polar  bears  have  for  a  treat 
cod-liver  oil,  which  they  love." 

"  Look,  Doodle,"  said  Jack,  pointing  to  a  label 
on  one  of  the  cages :  "  The  Bears  are  fed  at  4 
P.  M.  Can't  we  come  and  see  them?  We  missed 
the  Lions'  dinner, —  you  know  they  are  fed  at  two 
o'clock!  Do  let  us  see  what  the  Bears  have  to 
eat." 

"  No,  Jack,  we  have  too  many  things  to  see.  I'm 
afraid  we  can't  come  back,  and  so  we  shall  have  to 
miss  the  Bear's  Afternoon  Tea." 

Taking  the  Service  Road  at  this  point  and  walk- 
ing a  short  distance  west,  they  soon  reached  the 
Reptile  House  and  Tortoise  Yards. 

The  children  were  somewhat  surprised  when 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  105 


they  entered  the  Reptile  House  to  see  the  great 
number  of  tanks  and  cages.  The  first  thing  that 
attracted  their  attention  was  the  Alligator  Pool, 
where  the  sluggish  creatures  were  lying  among  the 
palms,  resurrection  ferns,  Spanish  moss  and  other 
greenery  that  were  reminiscent  of  their  Florida 
home.  Both  Nora  and  Jack  had  little  to  say  — 
and  few  questions  to  ask,  as  they  looked  upon  one 
exhibit  after  another,  while  Doodle  told  them  the 
following  facts. 

"  Serpents,  or  snakes,  are  very  weird.  Most 
people  hate  them.  However,  if  we  can  bring  our- 
selves to  look  upon  them  without  aversion,  reptiles 
are  of  great  interest.  A  snake  seems  to  be  all  tail, 
— doesn't  it?  Well;  it  has  ribs  and  scales.  Ribs! 
I  should  think  so !  Some  serpents,  indeed,  have  no 
less  than  three  hundred  pairs  of  ribs!  The  snake 
moves  by  means  of  these  ribs  and  scales,  which 
take  hold  of  the  surface  on  which  it  passes.  It 
glides  rapidly  over  the  ground,  swims,  and  even 
climbs  trees.  Over  a  perfectly  smooth  surface,  like 
glass,  for  example,  the  serpent  is  helpless  and  can- 
not move  at  all.  Some  snakes,  particularly  those 
that  live  in  trees,  hold  their  place  by  means  of  the 
scales  near  the  tail  and  swing  the  upper  part  of  the 
body  in  the  air.  Now  here  is  another  strange 
thing  —  true  serpents  live  on  prey  larger  than 
themselves  which  they  swallow  whole.  The  Boa, 
for  instance,  crushes  its  victims  by  constriction  — 
that  is  to  say  —  a  kind  of  tight  hugging.  The 
mouth  and  the  body  of  constrictors  dilate  tremen- 
dously; but  sometimes  serpents  seize  prey  too  big 
for  them  to  swallow  and  die  in  the  attempt.  Their 
teeth  are  peculiarly  formed  and  slant  backward 
so  it  is  hard  to  get  rid  of  anything  that  is  once  in 


io6  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


the  mouth.  In  vipers,  rattlesnakes  and  other  ven- 
omous serpents,  there  are  no  teeth  on  the  upper 
jaw,  their  place  being  taken  by  venomous  poison 
fangs  —  two  long  fangs  firmly  fixed  in  a  movable 
bone.  When  not  in  use,  these  fangs  lie  flat  on  the 
roof  of  the  mouth,  and  when  the  snake  is  angry 
and  about  to  attack  its  enemy  or  prey,  the  fangs 
dart  out  from  the  jaw  like  a  couple  of  lancets. 
Each  fang  is  practically  a  little  tube  of  poison. 
The  venom  of  the  serpent  differs  in  different 
species.  The  bite  of  some  serpents  causes  the 
death  of  a  human  being  in  a  few  minutes;  that  of 
others,  in  a  few  hours  or  days. 

"  The  tongue  of  the  serpent  is  forked  and  is 
often  called  the  *  sting';  but  is  not  a  sting  at  all. 
The  fangs  take  the  place  of  a  sting. 

"  The  heart  is  placed  far  back  in  the  body ;  the 
ear  has  no  external  opening;  the  non-venomous  ser- 
pents lay  and  hatch  eggs;  and  the  only  sound  all 
snakes  make  is  that  of  hissing.  Some  of  them 
are  very  beautifully  marked  in  patterns  that  look 
like  rugs  and  carpets  and  basket-work,  and  some 
of  them  have  scales  of  lovely  colours  —  red,  green, 
purple,  blue,  brown,  white  —  in  fact,  all  the  hues 
of  a  kaleidoscope.  When  the  snake  is  in  perfect 
health,  these  scales  shine  and  glisten  with  irides- 
cent hues  and  a  fine  metallic  lustre.  Nora,  that  is 
a  little  snake-skin  purse  that  you  have  in  your 
hand,  with  all  those  pretty  markings." 

Upon  this,  Nora  looked  at  her  purse  and  then 
comparing  it  with  the  snakes,  seemed  satisfied  that 
this  was  true. 

"  The  Reptile  House,"  continued  Doodle,  "  con- 
tains one  of  the  best  collections  of  serpents  in  the 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  107 


world ;  and  these  specimens,  gathered  from  all  quar- 
ters of  the  globe,  are  exhibited  in  such  a  way  as  to 
show  each  off  to  advantage.  The  Water  Snakes 
have  tanks;  the  Sand-Vipers,  fine  sand,  like  that  of 
their  native  desert ;  the  Whip-Snakes,  bushes  where 
they  can  show  off  their  balancing  tricks;  and  the 
Tree  Boas,  boughs  in  which  they  can  coil  themselves 
at  pleasure. 

"  Everybody  likes  to  see  the  great  constricting 
Pythons,  Boas  and  other  venomous  serpents,  so  let 
us  first  take  a  look  at  this  enormous  Regal  Python, 
that  came  from  Borneo  several  years  ago.  It  is 
twenty-two  feet  long,  and  weighs  nearly  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  pounds!  It  is  not  a  venomous 
serpent;  but  its  crushing,  or  constricting,  power  is 
frightful  to  think  about.  The  Regal  Python  is 
supposed  to  be  the  largest  species  of  serpent  living; 
and  it  is  a  very  vicious  snake.  This  special  Python 
is  fed  once  every  ten  days;  and  then  it  swallows 
down  at  one  big  gulp  an  eight-pound  chicken,  feath- 
ers and  all !  Sometimes  when  it  is  very  hungry 
the  Python  will  gobble  down  two  or  even  four 
chickens!  Then  it  goes  to  sleep  and  digests  this 
fine  meal.  After  ten  days,  it  wants  its  next  din- 
ner. If  it  can't  have  chicken,  it  will  be  satisfied 
with  young  rabbits,  or  pigs. 

"  The  African  Rock  Python,  has  a  body  of  a 
delicate  tan-colour,  decorated  with  patches  of  olive 
brown  on  its  back  and  a  broad  pinkish  band  on  each 
side  of  its  head.  This  snake  is  docile;  and  is  a 
favourite  of  the  snake-charmer. 

"  Among  the  recent  arrivals  at  the  Reptile  House 
are  a  young  Regal  Python,  also  from  Borneo;  two 
Congo  Pythons;  a  Madagascar  Boa;  and  a  Mada- 


io8  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


gascar  Tree  Boa;  the  latter  is  very  much  like  the 
South  American  Boas.  Suppose  we  look  at  some 
of  these  now. 

"  The  largest  of  all  the  Boas  of  the  New  World 
is  the  Anaconda,  from  South  America,  a  very 
vicious  snake  that  hates  to  be  handled.  The  speci- 
mens here  spend  most  of  their  time  in  the  water, 
swimming  slowly  about  in  the  tank,  or  lurking  in 
the  corner  with  their  noses  above  the  water.  The 
Anaconda  is  very  handsome  in  colour  —  rich  green 
with  black  spots. 

"  The  Common  Boa,  known  as  the  Boa  Con- 
strictor, is  a  native  of  South  America  and  the  West 
Indies.  This  averages  from  eight  to  nine  or  ten 
feet  and  is  quite  docile.  This  special  Boa  is  a 
great  favourite  of  snake-charmers  because  of  its 
gentleness. 

"  Next  let  me  show  you  the  West  Indian  Boa ; 
and  the  Mexican  Boa,  the  latter  noted  for  his  bad 
temper  and  rich  colours. 

"  The  Tree  Boa  is  very  peculiar.  Its  neck  is  long 
and  slender,  its  head  large  and  broad  and  very 
pointed  at  the  snout;  and,  when  it  wraps  its  body 
around  the  limb  of  a  tree  and  loops  its  neck  in  the 
air  ready  to  strike,  it  is  quite  a  terrible  object. 

"  There  are  some  other  Boas  from  Central  Amer- 
ica, Cuba,  and  Mexico ;  more  Green  Tree  Boas ;  and 
the  small  Rubber  Boa,  a  burrowing  snake  that  lives 
in  our  Pacific  Coast  States  as  far  north  as  Oregon. 
It  is,  as  you  see,  very  round,  a  pale  grey  and  is 
about  eighteen  inches  long. 

"  This  is  another  burrowing  snake  —  the  Sand- 
Boa  from  Egypt  —  sometimes  known  as  the  Two- 
Headed  Snake,  because  the  natives  paint  a  mouth 
and  two  eyes  on  its  tail  and  exhibit  it  as  a  snake 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  109 


with  two  heads !  This  snake  is  dull  in  hue,  like  the 
sands  of  the  desert.    It  feeds  on  small  mammals. 

"  Perhaps,  however,  the  most  famous  snakes  of 
all  are  the  King  Cobra  and  the  Cobra-de-Capello. 
There  are  two  specimens  of  the  King  Cobra,  one  of 
which  has  been  here  for  nine  years  and  is  as  bad 
tempered  as  he  was  when  he  first  came.  He  is 
always  ready  to  strike  his  keeper.  He  is  so  calm 
and  bold  and  quiet  and  treacherous  that  he  is  con- 
sidered the  most  dangerous  of  all  the  deadly  ser- 
pents. The  two  King  Cobras  are  fed  every  Sun- 
day morning  and  each  eats  a  freshly  killed  snake. 
A  regular  cannibal  snake ! 

"  Yes ;  but  that  is  not  all.  He  inclines  rather 
to  made  dishes,  for  the  keepers  often  stuff  the 
newly-killed  snake  with  frogs  or  small  rats  to  make 
the  meal  more  substantial.  Snake  farci  is  quite  a 
new  wrinkle  in  cookery  —  isn't  it  ? 

"  There  are  some  specimens  of  Masked  Cobras 
from  Borneo,  Sumatra  and  Java,  and  of  the  Spec- 
tacled Cobra  that  shows  on  the  '  hood,'  when  this 
is  spread,  markings  of  a  pair  of  spectacles.  This 
is  the  Cobra  that  kills  so  many  people  in  India.  It 
is  said  that  twenty  thousand  lives  are  lost  in  India 
every  year  from  the  bites  of  the  Cobra-de-Capello ! 
Several  of  these  snakes  have  lived  here  for  nine 
years;  and,  like  the  King  Cobra,  are  frightfully 
vicious  —  perhaps  they  are  the  most  vicious  of  all 
the  snakes  in  the  Park. 

"  The  African  serpents  are  very  deadly  and  very 
gorgeous.  The  Gaboon  Viper,  the  Rhinoceros 
Viper  and  the  Puff  Adder  have  terrible  fangs  and 
ugly  bodies,  but  their  scales  are  beautifully  marked. 
The  Cape  Viper,  the  Pigmy  Viper  and  the  Sand 
Viper  are  interesting  creatures  of  the  desert.  The 


no  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


latter  is  red;  and,  instead  of  crawling,  moves  in  a 
series  of  loops.  It  generally  lies  buried  in  the  sand, 
only  showing  the  tip  of  its  snout,  and  its  gleaming 
red  eyes. 

"  Shall  we  look  at  some  of  the  Australian  snakes? 

"  The  Purple  Death  Adder,  with  scarlet  scales ; 
six  specimens  of  the  Grey  Death  Adder  (each  about 
five  feet  long)  ;  two  Tiger  Snakes,  with  bands 
around  their  yellowish  bodies, —  all  very  danger- 
ous, poisonous  snakes ;  two  Australian  Pythons  — 
the  Diamond  Snake  and  the  Carpet  Snake  —  with 
very  splendid  markings,  are  among  the  best  ex- 
amples from  that  far  away  country. 

"  The  Rattlesnakes  are  all  American.  Their  fine 
Latin  name  is  Crotalns.  They  are  dreaded  for 
their  deadly  venom.  The  rattle  at  the  end  of  the 
tail  consists  of  a  series  of  thin  horny  cells  joined 
together,  that  strike  against  each  other  when  the 
tail  is  shaken.  It  is  believed  that  one  rattle  is 
added  every  year.  The  Rattlesnake  generally  rests 
in  a  coil  with  his  rattle  erected,  and  when  molested, 
or  fancies  itself  so,  it  shakes  its  rattle.  People 
have  been  known  to  die  in  a  few  minutes  after  they 
have  been  bitten.  Here  we  may  see  the  Horned 
Rattlesnake,  the  Red  Rattlesnake  of  Southern 
California,  the  Diamond  Back,  the  Texas  Rattle- 
snake, the  Timber  or  Banded  Rattlesnake,  and  the 
Canebrake  Rattlesnake,  that  lives  in  the  swamps 
and  cane  districts  of  the  South.  The  Diamond 
Back  is  the  handsomest  of  the  family.  The  South 
American  Rattlesnake  is  also  in  this  collection. 

"  We  must  not  omit  to  look  at  the  Rat-Snakes 
and  Water-Snakes,  including  the  Brown  Water 
Snake  and  the  Cotton  Mouth.  Two  of  the  oldest 
serpents  in  the  Reptile  House  are  a  pair  of  Cotton 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  ill 


Mouth  Moccasins,  known  to  be  over  fourteen  years 
old. 

"  Nobody  ever  had  a  good  word  for  the  Water 
Moccasin,  a  vicious  and  ugly  creature,  w-ith  a  dull, 
badly  shaped  body.  The  Water  Moccasin,  how- 
ever, is  closely  related  to  the  handsomely  marked 
Copperhead  and  both  are  cousins  of  the  famous 
Fer-de-Lance,  a  native  of  the  West  Indies  and  trop- 
ical South  America.  The  Fer-de-Lance  is  greatly 
dreaded  by  the  natives  and  travellers.  It  is  the 
largest  of  the  tropical  vipers ;  and,  like  most  poison- 
ous snakes,  is  very  brilliant  in  colour.  Its  fangs 
are  enormous  and  almost  always  fatal  in  their  work. 

"  Another  South  American  is  the  deadly  Bush- 
master,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  poisonous 
snakes  known.  Its  fangs  are  enormous.  One  of 
the  specimens  here  was  sent  from  Trinidad  for 
the  purpose  of  extracting  venom  for  scientific 
use.  It  is  a  very  queer  operation  and  simple, 
so  they  say.  They  tie  a  piece  of  cheese-cloth  over 
the  top  of  a  glass  tumbler,  catch  the  snake  and 
grasp  it  behind  its  neck  so  that  it  cannot  move  its 
head.  Then  they  place  the  jaws  on  the  cheese- 
cloth. The  snake,  being  furious,  bites  the  .cheese- 
cloth and  the  fangs  are  soon  through.  At  this 
moment  the  operator  pinches  the  poison  glands  and 
all  the  pale  yellow  venom  is  emptied  into  the  tum- 
bler, wrhere  it  dries  rapidly." 

Having  enough  of  the  snakes,  now-,  they  wan- 
dered into  the  Lizard  and  Tortoise  Yards. 

"  First,  we  will  look  at  the  Giant  Tortoises  that 
come  from  the  Galapagos  Islands  off  the  coast  of 
Equador,"  said  Doodle.  "  These  two  specimens, 
the  older  of  them  400  years  old,  it  is  said,  represent 
the  largest  and  the  smallest  species.    One  weighs 


112  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


220  pounds  and  the  other  90 ;  and  living  in  brotherly 
love  with  these  are  two  Elephant  Tortoises !  " 

"  That  seems  to  me  a  very  good  name  for  them," 
said  Nora,  "  and  their  feet  certainly  do  resemble 
Gunda's." 

"  Oh,  Doodle/'  said  Jack,  laughing,  "  I  believe  he 
is  the  kind  of  turtle  that  the  Mr.  Lear's  Yonghy- 
Bonghy  Bo  rode  on." 

"  Why,  to  be  sure  he  is,"  acquiesced  Doodle. 
"  Well,  the  Elephant  Turtles  do  come  from  the 

'  Coast  of  Coromandel 
Where  the  early  pumpkins  blow/ 

"  Their  home  is  in  the  Aldabra  Islands  in  the 
Indian  Ocean.  This  may  be  the  very  turtle  that 
Mr.  Lear  drew,"  and  Doodle  quoted: 

'  Through  the  silent-roaring  ocean 
Did  the  Turtle  swiftly  go; 
Holding  fast  upon  his  shell 
Rode  the  Y onghy-Bonghy  Bo. 
With  a  sad  primceval  motion 
Towards  the  sunset  isles  of  Boshen 
Still  the  Turtle  bore  him  well.' 

"  He  certainly  has  a  sad  primaeval  motion,  and 
a  sad  primaeval  face." 

"  All  the  reptiles  are  primaeval,"  Doodle  con- 
tinued, "  the  lizards  are  only  miniatures  of  the  giant 
monsters  you  have  so  often  seen  pictures  of  in  my 
books  that  stalked  about  on  their  hind  legs  before 
the  Flood." 

"Oh,  I  know,"  said  Jack,  "  the  —  the  —  the  — 
something  sauruses." 

"  Yes ;  and  they  tell  us  here  in  the  Park  that  when 
the  lizards  were  placed  under  natural  conditions  in 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  113 


the  sandy  yard  they  walked  and  ran  on  their  hind 
legs,  something  after  the  kangaroo  style,  and  in 
exactly  the  way  the  prehistoric  monsters  did. 

"  Look  at  the  monster  Lizard  from  Ceylon,  over 
seven  feet  long  with  claws  as  big  as  a  leopard's. 
This  is  the  great  Kabara-Goya,  or  Giant  Lizard, 
also  called  the  Monitor,  and  one  of  the  largest  of 
its  kind  ever  exhibited.  It  is  strong  enough  to 
kill  a  young  gazelle  and  swallow  it  whole !  The 
Monitor  is  very  fond  of  eggs  and  likes  to  eat  a 
dozen  at  a  time  and  swallow  them  so  quickly  that 
you  can  hear  them  click  one  against  the  other. 

"  There  are  a  great  number  of  lizards  here  from 
the  West  Indies  and  Central  and  South  America, 
including  the  West  Indian  Rhinoceros  Iguana,  the 
Black  Iguana,  and  the  Turk's  Island  Iguana, 
the  Spine  Tailed  and  the  Banded  Iguanas  and 
the  Black  Tegus,  spotted  and  striped  with  yel- 
low; and  there  are  Ocellated  Lizards,  bright 
green  with  spots  of  red  and  blue,  from  Southern 
Europe;  a  big  Japanese  Salamander;  and  many 
lizards  from  Mexico,  Southern  California,  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona,  including  the  Fringe-Toed 
Lizard  with  fringes  on  his  feet  that  prevent 
his  sinking  into  the  sands  of  the  desert;  and  Horned 
Lizards  and  Spine-Tailed  Lizards  and  Geckos  and 
Skinks  from  Africa." 

"  What  are  Geckos  and  Skinks  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  The  Gecko  is  a  peculiar  little  lizard  widely  dis- 
tributed over  the  world,  dull  of  colour  and  ugly  in 
form.  He  takes  his  name  from  the  peculiar  cry 
some  members  of  the  family  utter.  His  accom- 
plishment is  to  cling  to  the  flat  surface  of  anything 
by  means  of  the  suckers  on  his  toes.  The  Skink's 
talents  are  his  ability  to  walk  on  the  desert  sand 


H4  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


without  sinking  and  to  burrow  beneath  it  with  his 
peculiar  snout." 

"Oh!  what  is  that?"  exclaimed  Jack,  as  they 
were  walking  westward  from  the  Reptile  House, 
and  caught  sight  of  a  curioiisly  carved  and  gaudily 
painted  pole,  standing  at  the  side  of  a  curiously 
painted,  low-roofed  house  that  seemed  to  stare  and 
grin  at  them  with  its  grotesque  eyes  and  mouth. 
"Oh,  what  is  that?" 

"  That  is  an  Indian  house  with  a  Totem- Pole, 
from  Alaska.  The  pole  is  forty-seven  feet  high; 
and,  as  you  see,  is  carved  with  bears.  It  tapers 
gradually  to  the  top  where  it  is  surmounted  by  the 
carved  figure  of  a  thunder-bird,  probably  intended 
for  a  sea-gull.  The  house  is,  as  you  see,  carved 
with  two  gigantic  figures  of  bears,  with  terrible 
teeth  and  claws,  and  it  is  painted  red,  green,  white 
and  black,  like  the  pole.  The  Totem-Pole  stands 
beside  the  house  —  and  represents  the  sign,  the 
crest  or  what  corresponds  to  the  name  of  the  person 
who  dwells  there.  It  is  a  real  Alaskan  Indian 
house  and  a  real  Totem-Pole  and  was  found  in 
Alaska  in  1899  by  the  Harriman  Alaska  Expedition, 
at  Cape  Fox  where  an  abandoned  Tlinkit  Indian 
village  was  discovered.  Mr.  Harriman  brought 
away  the  chief's  house  and  what  we  might  call  his 
front  door  plate  —  the  Totem-Pole.  This  splendid 
example  of  Indian  carving  is  valued  at  $2,500  at 
least. 

"  Look !  there  are  the  Wild  Turkeys ! 

"  Some  people  consider  the  Wild  Turkey  the 
finest  game  bird  in  the  world.  He  is  chiefly  found 
in  the  Southern  States.  Aren't  his  feathers  a 
beautiful  bronze  as  the  light  strikes  them?" 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  115 


Walking  south  from  this  point  they  soon  reached 
the  Small  Mammal  House. 

"  What  shall  we  look  at?  "  asked  Doodle,  as  they 
entered.  "  There  are  176  cages :  there  are  members 
of  the  cat  family,  young  leopards,  lynxes  and  their 
relatives,  squirrels,  baby  bears,  viverrines,  little 
bears,  foxes,  many  kinds  of  squirrels,  tropical  wild 
swine,  ant-eaters,  armadillos  and  marsupials  all 
living  under  one  roof !  Now  can  you  imagine  the 
enormous  amount  of  food  that  has  to  come  into 
this  building  every  day  and  the  varied  diet  of  all 
these  animals!  The  greatest  care  has  been  taken 
of  this  strange  assortment  of  creatures. 

"  Among  the  peculiar  little  cats  is  a  very  fine 
specimen  of  the  Yaguarundi  Cat,  which  lives  in 
Texas,  Central  Ameria  and  Mexico.  Seen  from  a 
distance,  he  might  be  taken  for  an  otter  or  a  marten. 
Yes,  that's  a  regular  trick  of  his  —  running  or 
galloping  about  the  cage  with  his  back  arched  up. 

"  They  tell  us  here  that  the  '  feeding  of  the  small 
cat  animals  is  more  difficult  than  that  of  their 
larger  relations,  in  the  Lion  House.  If  raw  beef  or 
horse  meat  were  fed  as  constantly  to  the  small 
species  as  to  the  lions,  tigers,  leopards  and  other 
inmates  of  the  Lion  House,  an  epidemic  of  fits 
would  soon  develop.  The  small  cats  do  best  on 
'  dipped '  meat  —  meat  that  has  been  quickly 
steamed,  or  placed  in  boiling  water,  for  a  few  min- 
utes. And  this  diet  must  be  frequently  varied  with 
fowls,  rabbits,  and  rats.  From  the  latter,  freshly 
killed,  the  cats  obtain  bone-food  nourishment.  It 
is  also  important  that  they  consume  a  certain  amount 
of  feathers  or  fur,  as  these  substances  produce  a 
beneficial  effect.' 


n6  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Among  the  Viverrines  we  find  the  Common 
Civet  Cat  and  the  Malayan  Civet  Cat.  You  can 
always  recognise  them  by  their  ring-streaked  tails 
and  spotted  bodies.  Here  is  a  queer  black  thing, 
also  from  the  Malay  Peninsula  —  the  Binturong, 
or  Bear  Cat;  and  this  creature,  something  like  a 
Puma  is  the  White  Whiskered  Paradoxure.  It 
came  from  northern  China  and  is  as  cross  as  he  was 
when  he  arrived  several  years  ago. 

"  These  queer  animals  from  South  America  are 
the  Patagonian  Fox,  the  Kinkajou,  the  Crab-eating 
Raccoon,  and  the  Azara  Dog." 

"  I'd  call  that  a  kind  of  grey-fox,"  interrupted 
Jack,  looking  at  the  latter. 

"  Yes ;  he  does  look  like  a  fox ;  but  his  tail  is  very 
doggy, —  don't  you  think  so?  "  asked  Doodle. 

"  I  think  he  doesn't  like  us  to  talk  about  him," 
said  Nora,  who  had  been  staring  at  the  Azara  Dog 
rather  cautiously.    "  I  think  we  had  better  go." 

"  Very  well,"  Doodle  acquiesced.  "  Suppose  we 
introduce  ourselves  to  the  Malayan  Sun  Bear,  who 
lives  in  Borneo,  Sumatra,  the  Malay  Peninsula  and 
Farther  India.  This  is  the  ugliest,  the  smallest 
and  the  worst-tempered  bear  in  the  whole  world, 
and  when  he  gets  very  angry,  he  barks  like  a  dog." 

"  I  don't  like  the  look  of  him  at  all,"  said  Nora, 
holding  Doodle's  hand  a  little  tighter. 

"  Well  then,  how  about  this  queer  Capybara  ? 
He  won't  hurt  you.  He  has  a  nice  affectionate 
disposition." 

"  He  is  a  queer  thing,"  said  Jack,  "  tell  us  about 
him,  please." 

"  Well,  you  can  see  for  yourselves  that  he  is  as 
large  as  a  half-grown  hog;  that  he  wears  a  coat  of 
bristles;  that  he  has  no  tail,  and  if  you  look  again 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  117 


at  his  coat  you  will  see  that  the  bristles  grow  in 
'  blocks  of  five,'  as  they  say.  They  tell  us  here  that 
this  strange  creature  is  fond  of  being  petted  and 
that  it  is  the  largest  of  all  living  rodents,  weighing 
twice  as  much  as  a  beaver.  It  has  habits  much  like 
a  hog." 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  who  would  want  to  pet 
him"  said  Nora.    " /  wouldn't." 

"  Where  does  it  live  when  it  is  at  home,  Doodle  ?  " 
asked  Jack,  intently  watching  the  big  one  rubbing 
its  mate's  nose  affectionately  with  its  own  snout. 

"  On  the  banks  of  the  South  American  rivers 
near  the  coasts.  People  hunt  it  rather  cruelly. 
The  Capybara  hunter  goes  out  in  a  canoe  and  puts 
two  or  three  dogs  on  the  shore  to  drive  the  animals 
into  the  water.  The  Capybara  dives  well  and 
swims  for  a  long  time  under  water.  The  hunter 
is  after  it  the  minute  it  comes  up  to  breathe,  but 
the  Capybara  is  after  a  time  too  exhausted  to  dive 
any  more.    Then  it  is  speared. 

"  One  of  the  Capybara's  relatives  is  the  Agouti. 
The  Agouti  belongs  to  the  group  of  rodents,  or 
gnawers,  known  as  the  Cavies.  All  of  them  are 
good-natured  even  to  the  Capybara,  who  has  teeth 
strong  enough  to  bite  off  a  man's  finger  if  he  wanted 
to.  The  Agouti  is  allowed  to  run  over  this  house ; 
and  he  obeys  the  call  of  the  keepers  and  allows 
them  to  pick  him  up  and  put  him  back  in  his  cage. 

"  Near  him  is  the  Malabar  Squirrel.  When 
turned  loose  he  always  has  a  great  play  with  the 
keepers  who  try  to  get  it  back  into  the  cage;  but 
when  the  step-ladder  is  brought  the  little  creature 
makes  a  dash  for  the  cage  door,  thinking  the  game 
is  ended." 

"  I  wish  I  had  him  for  a  pet,"  said  Nora,  for  the 


n8  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


Malagar  Squirrel  was  looking  at  her  own  brown 
squirrel-like  eyes  with  a  friendly  stare.  "  I  think 
he  is  a  darling!  " 

"  Yes ;  the  Malabar  is  the  largest  and  finest  of 
all  the  squirrels:  he  is  a  charming  little  animal. 
Pretty  colours  —  chestnut  brown  and  yellow  and 
reddish  tints  —  and  what  a  tail!  Yes,  you've  a 
lovely  tail,  Mr.  Malabar ;  but  here  is  a  squirrel  with 
a  brighter  coat  than  yours  —  the  Prevost  —  bright 
cinnamon  and  black.  The  whole  family  is  a  pretty 
one !    How  do  you  like  the  Kangaroos,  Jack  ?  " 

"  I  could  look  at  them  all  day,"  said  Jack,  doub- 
ling up  with  laughter  as  he  watched  their  hops  and 
strange  postures. 

"  This  little  Murine  Opossum  is  a  queer  thing 
too,"  said  Doodle.  "  He  travels  in  a  strange  fash- 
ion,—  as  a  stowaway  in  a  bunch  of  bananas! 

"  The  white-nosed  Coati-Mundi  is  a  relative  of 
our  raccoon  and  comes  from  Mexico,  Central  and 
South  America.  I  think  he  is  never  still:  he  is  so 
lively  and  such  a  good  climber.  Oh,  come  here! 
How  about  the  African  Porcupine?  He  is  angry 
about  something,  because  all  those  black  and  white 
quills  are  bristling,  and  look  at  his  crest ! 

"  Now  then  for  the  wonderful  armadillos,  ant- 
eaters  and  sloths!  What  do  you  think  of  these  odd 
creatures  that  haven't  any  teeth!  First,  here  is  the 
Great  Ant-eater,  or  Ant-bear. 

"  When  this  ant-eater  arrived  it  was  in  a  bad 
condition,  too  frightened  or  shocked  by  its  capture, 
journey  and  change  of  habits  to  eat.  So  they  gave 
him  a  warm  bath  and  a  beaten-up  raw  egg,  a  little 
of  which  it  ate  and  then  it  went  off  in  a  corner 
of  its  cage.  One  day  they  took  it  out  and  put  it 
among  some  trees  near  the  Primates'  House,  where 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK     1 19 


there  was  quite  a  colony  of  black  ants.  The  Ant- 
eater  was  wildly  excited,  dug  his  long  claws  into 
the  ant-hills  and  pressed  his  snout  into  the  ground 
and  had  a  fine  feast.  So  now  every  day  his  cage 
is  placed  outside  so  that  he  can  hunt  for  his  ant- 
dinner;  but  for  breakfast  and  supper  he  is  given 
a  nice  mixture  of  eggs  and  scraped  meat  beaten- 
up  with  milk. 

"  This  ant-eater  is  called  the  Tamandua ;  and 
differs  from  the  others  of  his  family  by  having  a 
round,  hairless  and  prehensile  tail.  Look  at  his 
long  front  claws !  The  Tamandua  eats  eggs,  milk 
and  scraped  meat.  What  do  you  think  of  these 
armadillos  ?  You  see  they  are  encased  in  mail  — 
plates  of  armour,  a  kind  of  hard,  bony  covering, 
divided  on  the  back  into  a  greater,  or  lesser,  num- 
ber of  hinges,  or  bands.  Some  of  them  are,  there- 
fore, called  Six  Banded,  and  others  Three  Banded, 
or  Nine  Banded.  These  hinges  are  so  flexible  that 
the  strange  little  creature  can  roll  itself  into  a  ball 
in  time  of  danger,  completely  protecting  the  soft 
parts  of  his  body.  Armadillos  are  always  hun- 
gry—  they  eat  boiled  meat,  vegetables  and  the 
favourite  food  of  all  the  captive  Edentates, —  milk 
and  eggs  mixed  with  chopped  meat. 

"  As  we  go  outside  we  can  just  glance  at  the 
pumas  and  lynxes,  made  so  comfortable  and 
happy  in  their  out-of-door  quarters;  and  now  we 
have  come  to  the  Ostrich  House." 

"  The  Ostrich  House  is  just  like  the  Small  Mam- 
mal House,"  said  Jack,  as  they  entered  this  build- 
ing. 

"  Yes,  it  is,"  said  Doodle,  "  and  here  we  should 
find  the  big  running  birds  —  the  Ostriches,  the 
Rheas;  the  Emus  and  the  Cassowaries;  but  the 


120  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


empty  cages  tell  us  that  they  are  enjoying  them- 
selves in  the  outside  yards.  Oh,  wait  a  moment! 
here  is  the  Bateleur  Eagle  of  Africa.  He  lives  here, 
I  believe,  both  winter  and  summer.  He  is  decid- 
edly worth  looking  at.  He  is  remarkable  for  his 
magnificent  bearing,  his  brilliant  feathers  and  his 
very  short  tail.  Look  at  his  very  handsome  top 
knot,  or  crest.  Though  his  colours  are  quiet,  still 
they  are  handsome  and  lustrous  — ■  chestnut  and 
black  and  white ;  his  beak  is  orange  and  black ;  and 
his  feet  and  legs  bright  coral  red." 

"  Where  does  he  live  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Oh,  he  is  an  African  bird.  He  was  given  his 
name  by  the  French,  the  word  bateleur  meaning 
the  same  as  clown,  or  mountebank.  This  bird  is 
a  sort  of  clown  eagle.  He  has  a  crazy  way  of 
turning  somersaults  in  mid-air.  Sometimes  he 
does  another  queer  trick  while  flying  —  swinging 
from  side  to  side  with  his  wings  rigid  and  held 
slantingly  upward.  He  eats  reptiles  and  small 
mammals  and  carrion  like  the  vultures. 

"  Our  Zoological  Park  is  very  rich  in  large  run- 
ning birds,"  continued  Doodle.  "  By  the  way  did 
either  of  you  ever  see  an  ostrich?  " 

"  No,"  said  Nora,  "  I  never  have." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Jack. 

"  Well,  look  at  that  ridiculous  bird,  treading  so 
gingerly  on  his  toes,  and  please  notice  the  way  he 
holds  his  wings  and  his  head !  The  African  Ostrich 
is  the  most  valuable,  and  you  see  he  is  a  big  bird. 
He  is  eight  feet  tall  and  weighs  three  hundred 
pounds.  The  female  lays  about  ninety  eggs  a  year. 
You  can  tell  the  male  because  of  the  black  body  and 
the  white  on  the  wings  and  tail.    He  doesn't  know 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  121 


that  he  is  a  walking  milliner's  shop, —  with  all  those 
fine  plumes  under  his  tail. 

"  The  Rhea  is  the  South  American  ostrich,  and 
is  the  most  graceful  of  all  the  birds  of  this  family. 
It  inhabits  the  pampas,  where  its  enemies,  the  jaguar 
and  the  puma,  have  trouble  to  catch  it,  because  its 
eyesight  is  very  keen.  Its  dull  grey  plumage 
makes  it  quite  unnoticeable  in  its  native  land. 

"  Oh,  here  is  the  Whooping  Crane,  the  largest 
of  all  the  American  Cranes.  He  nests  in  summer 
in  the  Arctic  regions  and  in  the  winter  goes  as  far 
south  as  Mexico,  so  you  see  he  is  a  great  traveller. 
The  Whooping  Crane  is  a  very  rare  bird,  so  rare 
indeed  that  in  eight  years  the  Zoological  Park  has 
only  had  three  specimens.  Look  at  him  now !  See, 
he  is  over  five  feet  tall;  his  entire  plumage  is  pure 
white;  his  tail  feathers  are  long  and  arched;  and 
isn't  he  a  handsome  bird  as  he  spreads  his  wings, 
stretches  out  his  neck  and  runs  with  long  steps  up 
and  down  his  paddock?" 

"  Why  do  they  call  him  Whooping  Crane  ?  "  Jack 
asked. 

"  Why,  because  of  the  peculiar  noise  that  he 
makes.  It  is  a  loud,  ringing  cry,  more  like  a 
trumpet-call  than  a  whoop  and  it  is  produced  in  a 
peculiar  way.  The  bird's  windpipe,  which  is  nearly 
five  feet  long,  is  coiled  inside  his  hollowed  breast 
bone,  much  like  the  spirals  of  a  French  horn,  and 
that  explains  the  noise  that  he  makes  which  can  be 
heard  for  half  a  mile.  Where  does  he  live?  In 
the  Western  Plains  and  the  Mississippi  Valley.  I 
think  he  is  very  graceful,  though  he  is  amusing. 
See  what  a  lovely  neck  he  has  and  what  a  finely 
poised  head! 


122  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  There  goes  the  Sandhill  Crane.  He  comes 
from  the  eastern  United  States  and  was  at  one  time 
common  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  He  is  slaty 
blue  and  the  male  is  quite  pugnacious,  so  don't  go  too 
near  him.  The  Asiatic  White  Crane  looks  some- 
thing like  our  Whooping  Crane  and  the  Sarus  Crane 
like  our  Sandhill  Crane;  but  here  is  a  different  one 
altogether, —  the  Crowned  Crane  from  Africa, 
handsome  in  colour  and  very  gay  with  a  crown  of 
stiff  feathers. 

*  This  gentle  little  bird  is  called  the  Demoiselle 
Crane,  quite  a  dainty  little  lady.  She  comes  from 
Africa;  as  does  also  the  Paradise  Crane  with  a 
drooping  tail  of  feathers,  und  side  feathers  on  its 
head. 

"  Cranes  are  beautiful  birds  and  strange  birds, 
and  they  are  up  to  all  kinds  of  tricks  and  antics. 
Mr.  Beebe  says : 

" '  A  stranger  might  imagine  the  cranes  were 
crazy  or  affected  by  the  heat  if  he  came  upon  them 
during  play  time,  and  apparently  that  is  what  it 
can  be  termed.  The  Sandhills  dance  around  in  a 
circle,  jumping  about  in  the  most  grotesque  way  with 
outstretched  wings  and  necks,  continuing  for  lengthy 
periods,  usually  terminating  the  performance  by 
a  wild  flight  down  the  range.  But  the  Asiatic  white 
crane  has  two  tricks  which  he  performs  with  idiotic 
abandon  and  punctilious  care.  He  selects  some 
spot  in  the  range,  and  bores  a  hole  into  the  turf 
writh  his  mandibles;  standing  over  it  he  pumps  his 
head  up  and  down,  until  one  wonders  how  long  he 
can  keep  it  going.  If  you  go  away  and  return  in 
one  hour,  as  I  did,  you  will  find  him  still  at  it. 
Again  he  seizes  a  feather  in  his  beak  and  tosses  it 
into  the  air,  and  as  it  falls  leaps  for  it  and  catches  it, 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  123 


repeating  the  trick,  as  the  keeper  told  me,  for  over 
an  hour  at  a  time.' 

"  These  are  queer  birds,"  said  Doodle,  "  the 
Crested  Screamers." 

"  Their  faces  have  a  very  surprised  look,"  said 
Nora,  "  and  they  waddle  so  strangely.  Where  do 
they  come  from?  And  why  are  they  called 
Screamers?  " 

"  They  come  from  South  America,"  replied 
Doodle,  "  and  they  take  their  name  from  the  noise 
they  make.  They  are,  as  you  see,  something  like 
geese,  though  their  feet  are  not  webbed.  Strange 
to  say,  they  can  swim,  though  not  very  rapidly. 
They  place  their  nests  among  the  reeds  and  water- 
lilies.  Sometimes  their  nests  actually  float  on  the 
water.  The  Screamers  are  very  gentle  towards 
one  another  and  they  pair  for  life!  They  use  the 
four  long  sharp  spurs  on  their  wings  only  for  their 
enemies,  but  the  South  Americans  catch  the  birds 
and  make  them  the  policemen  of  the  poultry  yard. 
They  feed  and  live  on  the  best  terms  with  the 
chickens  and  ducks  and  keep  away  the  hawks.  The 
Screamer's  two  peculiarities  are  its  wonderful 
power  of  flight  and  its  extraordinary  song.  Hud- 
son says : 

"  '  It  loves  soaring,  and  will  rise  in  an  immense 
spiral  until  it  wholly  disappears  from  sight  in  the 
zenith,  even  in  the  brightest  weather;  and  consider- 
ing its  great  bulk  and  dark  colour,  the  height  it 
ultimately  attains  must  be  very  great.  On  sunny, 
windless  days,  especially  in  winter  and  spring,  they 
often  spend  hours  at  a  time  in  these  sublime  aerial 
exercises,  slowly  floating  round  and  round  in  vast 
circles  and  singing  at  intervals.  How  so  heavy  and 
comparatively  short-winged  a  bird  can  sustain  itself 


124  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


for  such  long  periods  in  the  thin  upper  air  to  which 
it  rises  has  not  yet  been  explained. 

" '  When  disturbed,  or  when  the  nest  is  ap- 
proached, both  birds  utter  at  intervals  a  loud 
alarm-cry,  resembling  in  sound  the  anger-cry  of 
the  peacock,  but  twice  as  loud.  At  other  times 
its  voice  is  exercised  in  a  kind  of  singing  per- 
formance, in  which  male  and  female  join,  and 
which  produces  the  effect  of  harmony.  The  male 
begins,  the  female  takes  up  her  part,  and  then 
with  marvellous  strength  and  spirit  they  pour 
forth  a  torrent  of  strangely  contrasted  sounds 
—  some  bassoon-like  in  their  depth  and  volume, 
some  like  drum-beats,  and  others  long,  clear,  and 
ringing.  It  is  the  loudest  animal  sound  of  the 
pampas,  and  its  jubilant  martial  character  strongly 
affects  the  mind  in  that  silent,  melancholy  wilder- 
ness. The  Screamers  sing  the  year  round,  at 
all  hours,  both  on  the  ground  and  when  soaring; 
when  in  pairs  the  two  birds  invariably  sing  together, 
and  when  in  flocks  they  sing  in  concert.  At  night 
they  are  heard  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  again  just  before  dawn.  It  is  not  unusual,  how- 
ever, to  hear  them  singing  at  other  hours/  " 

Walking  a  short  distance  south  of  the  Ostrich 
House,  they  soon  came  to  the  Antelope  House. 

"  I  know  what  you  want  to  see  first  of  all,"  ex- 
claimed Doodle,  as  they  entered,  "  those  two  splen- 
did Nubian  giraffes.  They  came  from  German 
East  Africa  in  1907  and  cost  $5,500.  These  two 
animals  are  great  favourites  because  they  are  gentle 
and  good-tempered  and  are  always  in  good  health. 
How  tall  are  they?  Well,  the  male  is  13  feet,  &y2 
inches  high  and  the  female  12  feet,  4^  inches  high. 

"  They  eat  clover  hay,  raw  vegetables  cut  into 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  125 


very  small  pieces,  bran  and  rock  salt,  and  broken 
forage  biscuits  and  they  like  to  bite  the  tree  tops." 

"  Why  do  they  have  such  long  necks  ?  "  asked 
Nora. 

"  They  like  to  take  their  salad  off  tree-tops,  and 
you  can  see  how  uncomfortable  they  are  when  they 
have  to  eat  off  the  ground.  Look  at  that  one  now 
bending  his  neck  down.    How  awkward  he  is ! 

"  Now,  let  us  look  at  the  Eland.  The  Eland  is 
the  handsomest  and  largest  of  all  antelopes,  but  is 
now  unfortunately  nearly  extinct.  It  used  to  roam 
over  a  great  part  of  South  Africa;  but  is  now  only 
to  be  found  in  Natal.  The  only  captive  herd  is 
owned  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford  at  Woburn  Abbey; 
and  the  handsome  male  that  you  are  now  looking  at 
came  from  this  herd.  He  is  named  Duke  in  honour 
of  the  Duke  of  Bedford.  He  stands  about  six  feet 
and  weighs  two  thousand  pounds.  Those  splendid 
horns  of  his  are  two  feet  and  a  half  long. 

"  The  White-tailed  Gnu  is  also  very  rare.  He 
is  very  peculiar,  resembling  an  ox,  a  horse  and  an 
antelope.  The  White  Bearded  Gnu  and  the 
Brindled,  or  Blue,  Gnu  are  also  interesting  animals. 

"  This  is  the  place  to  see  horns,  let  me  tell  you," 
continued  Doodle,  "  this  animal  with  spiral  horns 
is  the  Addax;  this  antelope  with  curved  horns  is 
the  Leucoryx;  this  one  with  straight  horns  is  the 
Beisa,  this  one  with  tiny  horns  is  the  Nilgai  from 
India.  Among  the  rarest  of  these  animals  is  the 
Beatrix  Antelope,  from  the  Arabian  Desert;  the 
Blessbok,  a  purple  and  white  antelope  from  South 
Africa ;  and  the  nervous,  peculiar  Sing-Sing 
Waterbuck  from  West  Africa." 

They  spent  no  time  in  the  Small  Deer  House, 
situated  next  to  the  Antelope  House,  where  are 


126  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


sheltered  and  cared  for  many  kinds  of  antelopes, 
gazelles  and  deer  that  are  too  small  for  the  Antelope 
House  and  large  ranges,  because  they  were  diverted 
by  the  amusing  antics  of  the  Prairie  Dogs,  whose 
little  settlement  lies  on  the  other  side  of  the  road 
directly  opposite  to  the  Small  Deer  House.  There 
they  live  —  the  gayest,  maddest,  merriest  little  imps 
possible  to  imagine,  always  whisking  in  and  out  of 
their  burrows  and  then  sitting  on  their  mounds, 
happy  as  squirrels  and  as  saucy  as  jay  birds. 

"  Now  there  is  a  funny  sight  that  you  would 
probably  never  see  in  any  other  Zoological  Park 
in  the  world,"  said  Doodle  as  they  continued  walk- 
ing westward,  "  half  a  dozen  white  Mountain  Goats 
walking  on  the  high  peaked  roof  of  their  dwelling!  " 

"Where  does  this  animal  live,  Doodle?"  asked 
Jack. 

"  The  White  Goat  comes  from  Montana,  Wash- 
ington and  British  Columbia,  and  these  specimens 
all  spring  from  the  few  that  were  captured  on  a 
tributary  of  the  Bull  River  in  1905,  a  few  days 
after  their  birth.  They  have  lately  shed  their  old 
coats  and  are  consequently  almost  as  white  as  snow. 
There  is  one  queer  thing  about  their  hair  —  it  ab- 
sorbs water  and  holds  it  for  hours,  so  whenever  it 
rains  they  have  to  be  taken  in-doors,  for  if  they  get 
wet  they  are  likely  to  die.  Some  of  the  goats  are 
natives  of  the  Zoological  Park,  descendants  of  the 
original  herd  of  five.  They  are  fed  on  clean 
crushed  oats,  sliced  carrots  and  potatoes,  all  the 
clover  hay  they  want,  and  an  occasional  apple. 
For  amusement  and  exercise,  they  climb  over  the 
roof  of  their  barn  and  they  behave  sensibly  towards 
their  keepers.    Very  estimable  characters  !  " 

Just  opposite  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  road 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  127 


extends  the  large  Wild  Fowl  Pond,  at  the  north  end 
of  which  and  beneath  a  large  granite  rock  sheltered 
by  many  trees  and  bushes  are  the  Wolf  and  Fox 
Dens  which  our  party  omitted  to  visit;  and  on  the 
border  of  the  Wild  Fowd  Pond  and  directly  oppo- 
site the  Mountain  Goats  is  situated  the  Pheasants' 
Aviary. 

"  I  think  we  still  have  time  to  see  this  fine  Bird 
House,"  Doodle  said,  "  with  all  its  spacious  run- 
ways. The  pheasant  tribe  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful of  all  families  of  birds.  They  are  lovely  in 
form  and  gorgeous  of  plumage.  The  most 
famous  are  the  Reeves,  the  Amherst,  the  Argus,  the 
Soemmerring,  the  Golden,  the  Silver  and  the 
Impeyan.  The  enormously  long  tailed  pheasants 
are  the  Amherst  and  the  Reeves.  The  Amherst 
pheasant  is  easily  recognised  by  its  very  long  tail 
and  its  cape  of  pure  white  feathers  edged  with 
semi-circles  of  black  and  steel-blue.  The  Soem- 
merring, sometimes  called  the  Copper  Pheasant,  is 
a  native  of  Japan.  The  Impeyan  comes  from  the 
Himalaya  Mountains,  and  is  noted  for  the  metallic 
lustre  of  its  plumage  which  glistens  in  the  sunlight 
with  every  shade  of  golden,  green,  blue,  crimson  and 
purple.  The  Jungle  Fowl,  the  splendid  Argus 
Pheasant,  and  the  Indian  Peacocks  live  in  plains 
and  hills  and  jungles  of  India;  the  Blood  Pheas- 
ants and  Eared  Pheasants,  in  higher  altitudes;  and 
the  Impeyans  go  for  their  food  far  up  into  the 
snows  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains  —  three  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea ! 

"  Pretty  nearly  all  the  web-footed  gentry  that 
we  saw  in  the  Duck  Aviary  and  on  Cope  Lake,  are 
also  to  be  found  at  Wild  Fowl  Pond.  This  is  the 
Nursery  and  Kindergarten  of  the  wild-fowl.  Many 


128  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


nests  are  made  here  in  the  grass  and  reeds  on  the 
water's  edge;  and  here  all  the  downy  little  duck- 
lings and  goslings  are  hatched  and  take  their  first 
lessons  in  swimming. 

"  North  of  the  Pheasants'  Aviary,  lie  the  Otter 
Pools.  We  really  must  stop  here  a  few  minutes  to 
watch  these  charming  and  graceful  little  creatures 
at  play. 

"  The  Otter,  being  prized  for  its  pretty  fur,  has 
been  so  pursued  by  the  trapper  that  it  is  nearly 
extinct,  especially  in  the  north.  It  is  still  found  in 
some  portions  of  Florida  and  South  Carolina. 
The  Otters  here  came  from  Florida.  '  Few  people 
save  woodsmen  and  naturalists,'  says  Mr.  Horna- 
day,  '  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  in  a  wild  state  the 
otter  is  a  very  playful  animal,  and  is  fond  of  slid- 
ing down  hill  over  a  wet  and  muddy  slide,  with  a 
water  plunge  at  the  bottom,  as  any  young  person 
is  of  *  shooting  the  chutes.'  Like  the  small  boy 
with  the  sled  and  a  snowy  hillside  the  Otter  some- 
times indulges  in  its  sliding  pastime  for  an  hour 
at  a  time,  with  a  keen  relish  for  the  sport  that  is 
quite  evident  to  all  who  have  ever  watched  it.  Bet- 
ter exhibition  animals  it  would  be  difficult  to  find. 
They  are  good  tempered  and  sociable  and  their 
playfulness  in  the  water  is  very  entertaining  to  vis- 
itors. Their  love  of  water  is  equal  to  that  of  a  seal, 
and  the  supreme  nonchalance  with  which  they  dive 
or  roll  or  drop  into  it  a  hundred  times  a  day,  is  very 
amusing.  Moreover,  in  contrast  to  most  small 
mammals,  they  are  most  active  when  visitors  are 
most  numerous  and  attentive.  Often  when  in  their 
den,  at  a  familiar  call  they  will  come  pouring  out 
in  a  shiny,  brown  stream,  for  a  special  performance. 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  129 


For  carnivorous  animals,  otters  make  very  satis- 
factory pets,  and  often  become  quite  docile,  and 
even  affectionate.  The  Otter  is  a  carnivorous  an- 
imal and  in  a  wild  state  lives  upon  fish,  frogs,  crabs, 
young  birds,  small  mammals,  and,  in  fact,  about 
any  living  thing  which  it  can  reach.'  " 

The  children  were  so  fascinated  with  the  Otters 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get  them  away. 
At  length,  Doodle  succeeded  in  leading  them  down 
the  path  that  brought  them  to  the  Camel  and  Llama 
Houses.  Here  they  saw  the  old  camel  with  two 
humps,  the  familiar  camel  of  picture-books,  the  real 
Ship  of  the  Desert,  who  had  shed  his  shaggy  coat. 

"  Now  let  us  look  at  the  camels  of  the  New 
World,"  said  Doodle,  "  the  soft-footed,  long-necked 
Llamas,  Alpacas,  Guanacos  and  Vicunias.  These 
are  called  cameloids.  The  Llama  is  the  camel  of 
the  Andes ;  the  Alpaca  is  a  little  smaller  and  is  bred 
for  its  wool;  the  other  two,  are  the  Guanaco  and 
the  Vicunia.  The  Guanaco  has  thick  woolly  and 
pale  reddish  hair.  He  comes  from  Patagonia,  and 
is  noted  for  his  stupidity.  The  Vicunia  is  the 
smallest  of  the  group  and  has  comparatively  short 
hair.  He  is  found  from  Ecuador,  through  Peru  to 
Bolivia.  All  of  these  animals  are  quarrelsome  and 
cross  and  the  males  often  indulge  in  terrible  fights. 
When  anyone  of  the  cameloids  flies  into  a  passion, 
Mr.  Hornaday  tells  us  it  will  bite  with  the  persist- 
ence of  a  bull-dog,  and  with  its  massive,  chisel-like 
lower  incisors  inflicts  ugly  wounds.  At  times  a 
llama  or  vicunia  becomes  actually  insane,  and  seeks 
to  destroy  every  living  creature  within  its  reach. 
Regardless  of  punishment,  such  creatures  attack 
their  keepers  and  their  herd-mates,  spit  upon  vis- 


130  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


itors,  and  rage  up  and  down  their  corrals  in  most 
absurd  fashion.  Occasionally  such  individuals  re- 
quire to  be  completely  isolated.,, 

"  Oh,  I  wish  I  could  see  one  get  angry,"  said 
Jack,  "  can't  we  stay  a  little  while  longer?  " 

"  I'm  afraid  we  must  be  going,"  replied  Doodle, 
"  it  is  getting  late  and  I'm  afraid  they  are  all  in  an 
amiable  mood  and  will  not  oblige  us.  Besides  we 
are  so  near  the  Crotona  Entrance  that  I  think  we 
shall  have  to  say  good-bye  to  the  animals.  We 
haven't  even  time  to  visit  the  Elk  Range  that  lies 
just  north  of  us,  which  is  a  very  pretty  part  of  the 
Park  with  its  oaks,  maples  and  beeches  and  lake. 
The  beautiful  American  deer  —  the  Elk,  the  Mule 
Deer,  from  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Virginia 
Deer,  the  Woodland  Caribou  and  the  Lapland  Rein- 
deer all  roam  there.    We  really  must  go." 

Passing  out  of  the  gate,  they  were  fortunate 
enough  to  catch  a  trolley-car. 

"  I  feel  as  if  I  had  been  through  Noah's  Ark," 
said  Nora,  when  they  had  taken  their  seats. 

"  I  feel,"  said  Jack,  in  a  superior  tone,  "  as  if  I 
had  been  to  the  Garden  of  Eden." 

"  And  I  feel,"  said  Doodle,  "  as  if  I  had  been  to  a 
great  Emporium  of  Fashion.  I  am  sure  I  have  seen 
the  latest  styles  in  furs  and  feathers  and  skins;  and 
I  know  the  proper  thing  now7  in  plumes  and  crests 
and  aigrettes,  and  the  correct  width  for  stripes. 
Don't  you  remember  the  Grevy  Zebra  and  the 
Tigers  ?  and  I  know7  the  latest  sizes  in  spots  — 
don't  you  remember  the  Leopards  and  the  Jaguars  ? 
—  and  I  have  seen  the  most  stylish  necks  for  stylish 
collars  —  don't  you  remember  the  Giraffes  ?  — " 

"  And  Cobra  hoods,"  said  Jack. 

"  And  Turkey  jabots,"  added  Doodle. 


A  DAY  IN  THE  ZOOLOGICAL  PARK  131 


"  And  Boas  for  the  neck,"  added  Nora. 

"  And  Gecko  frills.  And  when  it  comes  to  the 
latest  thing  in  side  combs,"  said  Doodle,  "  don't  for- 
get the  Sardinian  Mouflon  and  the  other  mountain 
sheep;  but  joking  aside,  I'd  think  I'd  like  to  dress 
like  a  pheasant,  or  a  peacock,  or,  perhaps,  like  the 
big  blue  Macaw  we  all  liked  so  much." 

"  I  think  I'd  rather  be  a  tiger,"  said  Nora,  "  with 
all  those  splendid  stripes  and  beautiful  topaz  eyes/' 

"  Oh,  I  shouldn't,"  said  Jack.  "  I'll  be  one  of 
the  bears,  or  one  of  the  giraffes, —  oh,  no !  I  won't 
either,  I'll  be  the  Jabiru,  because  he  is  so  funny!  " 

"  Perhaps  you'd  rather  be  a  Kangaroo,"  sug- 
gested Doodle.  "  I've  changed  my  mind,  I'm  going 
to  be  an  Otter." 

And  Jack,  remembering  the  ecstatic  happiness  of 
the  Otters  at  their  games,  looked  terribly  distressed 
to  think  he  had  missed  such  a  glorious  transforma- 
tion, and  that  Doodle  had  appropriated  it;  and  all 
the  way  home  he  was  thoughtfully  engaged  in  try- 
ing to  reconcile  himself  to  the  fewer  pleasures  of 
the  Marsupials  from  Australia,  with  whom  he  had 
cast  his  lot. 


CHAPTER  VI 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS 

IN  WHICH  THE  HAPPY  TRIO  SPEND  SEVERAL  HOURS 
IN  THE  CONSERVATORY  IN  BRONX  PARK  SEEING 
SOME  OF  THE  WONDERS  AND  BEAUTIES  OF  PLANT- 
LIFE. 

*'  Here  we  are,"  cried  the  children,  as  they  en- 
tered Doodle's  study  one  bright  morning.  "  Mother 
gave  us  this  basket ;  but  she  would  not  tell  us  where 
you  are  going  to  take  us  to-day.  Where  are  we 
going,  Doodle?    Please  tell  us." 

"  We  are  going  to  the  Botanical  Garden  and  Mu- 
seum in  Bronx  Park,"  answered  Doodle,  who  was 
closing  another  small  lunch  basket. 

"  There  we  shall  find  two  of  the  largest  conserva- 
tories in  America  for  the  cultivation  of  tropical 
plants  and  the  largest  Botanical  Museum  in  the 
world.  Besides  these  attractions,  there  are  special 
out-of-door  collections  of  trees,  shrubs,  plants  and 
flowers,  a  great  Hemlock  Forest  of  forty  acres, 
through  which  the  Bronx  River  runs,  dropping  over 
the  rocks  to  form  a  pretty  waterfall." 

"  And  are  we  going  to  see  all  these  things  ?  " 
asked  Jack. 

"  No,"  replied  Doodle,  "  we  could  not  possibly 
see  everything  on  one  visit  because  the  Botanical 

132 


£1.  STATt '0/V 


PLAN  OF  BOTANICAL  GARDEN 
DIRECTORY. 


1.  Public  Conservatories,  Range  i. 

2.  Elevated  Railway  Station. 

3.  Power  House. 

4.  Bedford  Park  Avenue  Entrance. 

5.  New  York  Central  Railroad  Sta- 

tion. 

6.  Mosholu  Parkway  Entrance. 

7.  Muesum  Building. 

8.  Pinetum. 

o.  Southern  Boulevard  Entrance. 


10.  Herbaceous  Grounds. 

11.  Morphological  Garden. 

12.  Economic  Garden. 

13.  Viticetum. 

14.  Deciduous  Woodlands. 

15.  Hemlock  Forest. 

16.  Bronx  Park  Entrance. 

17.  Gorge  of  the  Bronx  River. 

18.  Water- fall. 
27.  Bronx  River. 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  133 


Garden  covers  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of 
land;  and  if  you  and  I  could  walk  over  it  all,  I'm 
sure  that  Nora  would  give  out." 

"  Oh!  I  can  do  anything  that  Jack  can  do/'  Nora 
announced  emphatically. 

"  You're  not  going  to  be  a  suffragette,  are  you 
Nora  ?  "  asked  Doodle. 

"  What's  that?  "  Nora  inquired. 

"  I  know,"  said  Jack,  "  you  fight  to  vote  with  the 
men  and  you  have  to  wear  short  hair.  I'll  cut 
yours  off  now, —  snip,  snip,  snap!"  and,  seizing  the 
large  scissors  from  the  desk,  Jack  teasingly  brought 
the  blades  together  with  three  sharp  clicks,  as  he 
waved  them  merrily  and  perilously  near  Nora's  long 
brown  hair,  without,  however,  the  slightest  idea  of 
harming  it. 

Nora  put  her  hands  up  to  her  hair  in  horror  and 
ran  to  the  other  side  of  Doodle,  who  went  on  un- 
concernedly : 

"  We  are  going  to  take  the  Third  Avenue  Ele- 
vated to  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden  and  go 
through  the  big  Conservatory,  which  is  very  close 
to  the  station;  that  will  use  up  the  morning;  then 
we  are  going  to  the  Hemlock  Forest  and  have  a 
picnic  lunch  near  the  Waterfall;  and,  after  lunch, 
we  are  going  to  stroll  through  the  gardens  and  visit 
the  Museum.  After  that  I  suppose  we  shall  be 
tired  enough  to  go  home.  Moreover,  as  it  is  nearly 
nine  o'clock,  I  think  we  had  better  start  now  and 
have  as  long  a  day  as  possible." 

"  Come  on !  Come  on !  "  cried  Jack,  waving  the 
smaller  basket  and  excitedly  leading  the  way. 

The  trip  in  the  Third  Avenue  Elevated  to  Bronx 
Park  seemed  very  short.  It  was  only  a  step  or  two 
from  the  station  to  the  big  Conservatory;  and,  after 


134  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


leaving  their  baskets  in  safe  keeping,  they  began 
their  trip  through  the  various  greenhouses. 

"  This  first  house,"  said  Doodle,  as  they  entered, 
"  is  devoted  entirely  to  palms  from  the  tropical  re- 
gions of  the  Old  World  and  the  New." 

The  children  looked  around  interestedly  at  the 
great  display  of  green  leaves. 

"  Because  of  their  majestic  appearance,  elegance, 
grace  and  beauty,  and  also,  because  of  their  great 
usefulness  to  man,  palms  have  been  called  the 
'  Princes  of  the  Vegetable  Kingdom,'  "  Doodle  ex- 
plained. "  They  are  used  for  everything  imag- 
inable,—  for  building,  for  thatching  roofs,  for  fur- 
niture, for  making  clothes,  hats,  fans,  umbrellas, 
mats,  baskets  and  even  for  writing-paper.  Some 
varieties  produce  sugar,  starch,  flour,  wax,  oil,  gum, 
wine,  dye-stuffs,  tannin,  vinegar,  thread  and  cord; 
from  others,  cooling  drinks  are  made;  and  the 
stems  and  buds  of  some  palms  make  delicious  food. 
This  one  is  the  Cocoanut  Palm,  which  grows  in  all 
tropical  countries.  It  is  a  very  handsome  tree,  and 
at  home  it  reaches  fifty  or  sixty  feet  and  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  crown  of  from  sixteen  to  twenty 
leaves,  each  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  long.  The 
nuts  are  hidden  among  the  leaves.  The  natives  of 
the  tropics  eat  the  cocoanut,  ripe  or  unripe,  drink 
the  milk  enclosed  in  the  shell,  eat  the  buds  and  parts 
of  the  stem,  make  palm  wine  and  arrack  from  the 
sap,  and  cups  and  bowls  and  other  utensils  out  of 
the  shell.  Then  they  use  the  fibre  in  various 
ways.  They  also  get  oil  and  soap  and  wax  and 
candles  from  the  tree  and  chew  the  root  besides. 

"  The  '  Palm  of  the  Desert'  is  another  fine,  use- 
ful tree.  It  is  a  wing-leaved  palm  that  grows  about 
fifty  feet  high,  in  the  fertile  spots  that  are  called 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  135 


oases,  and  produces  its  fruit  in  bunches  of  twenty 
or  thirty.  This  fruit  forms  an  important  article 
of  food  for  millions  of  people.  You  know  the 
fruit  very  well, —  dates.  Yes ;  this  is  the  real  Date 
Palm. 

"  From  this  plant,  with  its  fan-shaped  leaves, 
the  expensive  Panama  hats  are  made. 

"  Now  look  at  that  group  of  Bamboo  plants. 
The  stems  of  the  Chinese  bamboo  reach  into  the 
upper  parts  of  the  dome.  These  plants  grow  at 
the  rate  of  eight  inches  a  day  and  often  attain  the 
height  of  a  hundred  feet.  After  flowering,  the 
stems  die.  The  Bamboo  is  used  in  the  East  for 
many  purposes.  It  is  as  useful  as  the  Cocoanut. 
The  natives  use  it  for  building  houses  and  making 
fences;  for  water-pipes;  for  masts  of  ships;  for 
paper;  sticks;  fans;  and  for  furniture,  and  many 
utensils.  The  young  stems  and  shoots  are  cooked 
and  eaten  and  are  said  to  be  delicious. 

"This  next  house  (No.  2)  is  also  devoted  to 
Palms,  so  we  will  just  hurry  through  to  the  third 
house,  in  which  we  find  some  of  the  large  members 
of  the  Lily  family  and  the  Amaryllis  tribe,  with 
their  splended  red,  white  and  purple  flowers, —  a 
family  that  is  scattered  all  over  the  world.  This 
one  with  the  large  white  flowers  is  the  Spider  Lily. 

"  We  cannot  expect  to  find  all  of  the  400  species 
of  the  Amaryllis  family.  There  is  very  little 
family  likeness  between  some  of  them.  You  cer- 
tainly would  never  guess  that  the  Narcissus  and  the 
Snowdrop  were  cousins  of  the  American  Aloe  or 
Century-Plant, —  would  you?  Well,  they  are, — 
and  remind  me  that  we  must  not  forget  to  look  at 
the  Century  Plant  that  they  tell  us  will  soon  be  in 
blossom. 


136  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  This  plant  is  the  famous  Maguey  of  the  West 
Indies,  Central  and  South  America.  The  thick 
fleshy  leaves  contain  a  large  quantity  of  strong  fibre 
known  as  Pita-thread,  useful  for  making  ropes, 
mats  and  other  things.  It  is  very  spiny,  as  you  see ; 
and  is,  therefore,  much  used  for  hedges.  The 
Maguey  is  a  relative  of  the  Century- Plant. 

"  Now  we  come  to  the  Dracaena  family  and  the 
Sanseviera  family  —  in  common  words  —  the 
Dragon-plants  and  the  Hemp-plants. 

"  Large  tropical  plants  are  housed  in  No.  4. 

"  This  is  the  Arrow-root,  from  which  a  kind  of 
flour  is  obtained.  It  received  its  name  because  the 
Indians  applied  the  roots  to  the  wounds  that  they 
received  from  poisonous  arrows.  The  Maranta 
family,  to  which  it  belongs,  comes  from  the  West 
Indies,  the  East  Indies  and  tropical  America. 
Some  of  them  have  beautiful  leaves, —  don't  you 
think  so? 

This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  houses.  On 
the  pillars  climb  lovely  creepers,  such  as  the  Night 
Blooming  Jessamine  and  the  gorgeous  Allamanda 
with  its  great  cups  of  yellow  kid,  sweetly  per- 
fumed; other  vines,  you  notice,  are  climbing  over 
trunks  of  trees  set  as  supports,  among  them  the 
curious  Philodendron  that  overruns  the  trees  in  the 
South  American  forests  —  that  long  name,  trans- 
lated, means  /  love  the  trees!  In  this  house  we 
must  look  at  some  of  the  big  Aroids,  which  are  rel- 
atives of  our  familiar  Jack-in-the-Pulpit  and  the 
Calla-Lily  that  we  also-  know  so  well.  One  of  these 
Aroids,  called  Veitch's  Tail  Flower,  is  one  of  the 
treasures  of  the  Conservatory. 

"  The  Rubber-plants,  you  know ;  but  the  Fig- 
trees,  you  probably  have  never  seen.    Now  we 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  137 


come  to  four  very  interesting  trees  —  the  Banyan, 
the  Pawpaw,  the  Bread  fruit  and  the  Chocolate. 

"  The  Banyan  belongs  to  the  Mulberry  family,  and 
in  India  it  grows  to  enormous  size.  It  throws  roots 
out  from  the  branches  which  fall  on  the  ground 
and  grow  up  like  pillars.  The  branches  spread  over 
these;  and,  after  a  time,  a  great  big  canopy  is 
formed.  One  famous  tree  on  the  bank  of  the  Nar- 
buddah  could  shelter  seven  thousand  men! 

"  The  Pawpaw  is  valued  specially  for  its  fruit, 
which  is  long,  or  round,  and  yellow  when  ripe. 
This  is  a  native  of  the  West  Indies. 

"  The  Bread-fruit  is  also  valued  for  its  food. 
It  grows  about  twenty  or  thirty  feet  high,  with 
spreading  branches  and  rough  lobed  leaves.  The 
fruit  looks  something  like  a  melon,  or  pine-apple, 
marked  on  the  outside  with  a  diamond  pattern. 
The  inside  is  white  and  tastes  like  wheat  bread. 

"  The  bark  is  tough  and  when  beaten  out  can  be 
made  into  a  beautiful  white  cloth." 

"Which  is  the  Chocolate  tree,  Doodle?"  asked 
Jack,  who  was  particularly  fond  of  chocolate. 

"  This  one.  It  grows  from  sixteen  to  eighteen 
feet  high  and  has  broad  oblong  pointed  leaves  that 
are  very  thin.  After  its  small  flowers  have  blos- 
somed, then  there  comes  a  pod  from  six  to  ten 
inches  long,  containing  fifty  or  more  seeds.  When 
ripe,  these  seeds  are  covered  with  a  kind  of  gum. 
They  are  taken  from  the  pod,  slightly  fermented 
and  dried  in  the  sun.  Then  they  turn  a  brown 
and  are  sold  for  Chocolate  beans  or  nuts.  They 
are  roasted,  split  or  broken,  and  are  then  called 
cocoa-nibs.  When  ground,  they  are  called  cocoa- 
powder  and  are  made  into  paste  with  vanilla  and 
sugar.    The  last  is  called  chocolate.    But  wait  a 


138  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


minute  —  we  have  forgotten  the  Screw-pines, 
which  come  from  the  sea-shores  of  India  and  trop- 
ical islands.  They  look  as  if  they  were  standing 
on  props ;  and  see  their  long  sword-like  leaves  are 
armed  with  sharp  spines!  These  leaves  are  made 
into  baskets,  mats,  hats  and  other  things.  A  kind 
of  oil  is  also  made  from  the  flowers. 

"  Now  for  house  No.  5,  which  is  devoted  to  plants 
from  desert  regions.  They  have  fleshy  stems,  or 
leaves,  which  absorb  whatever  moisture  they  can 
from  the  sand  or  rocks  and  store  it  up  for  future 
use,  much  as  the  camel  does.  Here  are  plants 
from  South  Africa,  Mexico,  Central  America  and 
our  own  great  Western  deserts.  These  are  South 
African  lilies  —  the  Aloe,  Gasteria  and  Haworthia 
—  and  here  are  some  of  those  curious  Carrion 
Flowers, —  Stapelia  is  their  botanical  name.  They 
are  not  only  noted  for  their  grotesque  ap- 
pearance and  their  beautiful  starlike  flowers  (some 
of  which  are  spotted  and  others  variegated),  but 
because  of  their  terrible  odour,  so  similar  to  decaying 
meat,  or  carrion,  that  blue-bottle  flies  actually  lay 
their  eggs  in  the  flower,  where  the  young  grubs, 
after  feeling  about  for  food,  die  because  they  can't 
find  any, —  all  on  account  of  the  mistake  made  by 
their  stupid  parent.  The  Stapelias,  of  which  there 
are  about  a  hundred  species,  come  from  South 
Africa. 

"  The  Cactus  family  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing of  all  families  of  plants.  Every  member  of  the 
large  tribe  is  peculiar  and  every  one  is  covered 
with  prickles,  or  spines.  They  have  fleshy  stems 
and  no  leaves.  All  produce  beautiful  flowrers.  The 
Cactus  family  is  enormous :  about  eight  hundred 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  139 


species  are  known,  and  nearly  all  of  them  are  na- 
tives of  the  New  World. 

"  This  group,  for  example,  the  Hedgehog  Cac- 
tus, comprises  about  two  hundred  members.  They 
are  round,  oblong,  cylindrical,  or  ribbed,  and  are 
covered  with  stiff,  sharp  spines  set  in  little  woolly 
cushions.  The  flowers,  which  blossom  at  the  top 
of  the  plant,  are  large  and  showy  and  are  usually 
yellow,  or  pink.  After  the  flowers  have  perished, 
then  comes  the  fruit,  covered  with  spines. 

"  Here  are  the  Melon-thistles,  or  Turk's  Cap  Cac- 
tuses. You  see  all  of  these  look  like  melons  and  all 
are  supplied  with  bristles,  or  spines.  At  the  top  of 
the  crown,  the  small  pink  flowers  are  produced 
from  a  mass  of  wool,  and  these  flowers  are  fol- 
lowed by  red  berries.  The  Melon  Thistles  grow  in 
rocky-places  with  very  little  earth;  and  in  times  of 
drought  the  cattle  go  to  them  to  quench  their  thirst 
ripping  them  up  with  their  horns  to  get  at  the  in- 
side. The  berries  are  eaten  by  the  natives  in  the 
West  Indies,  Mexico  and  South  America. 

"This  group  —  the  Mammillaria  —  has  little 
cylinders,  spirally  arranged,  which  spring  from  a 
little  woolly  cushion.  The  tufts  of  spines  are  va- 
riously coloured ;  but  are,  as  you  see,  usually  white 
and  yellow.  The  flowers  are  rose-pink,  purple, 
red,  or  yellow. 

"  Here  is  the  Old  Man  Cactus,  with  his  long 
hoary  locks;  and  here  is  the  Opiintia,  on  which  the 
cochineal  insect,  that  supplies  the  red  dye,  is  bred; 
and  here  are  the  members  of  the  lovely  Cerens 
family. 

"  The  Night-Blooming  Cereus  is  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  and  beautiful  of  flowers.    It  opens  only 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


at  night  and  gives  out  the  most  delicious  scent  im- 
aginable. Then  after  twelve  o'clock,  it  slowly 
closes  its  petals  forever,  and  becomes  a  most  horri- 
ble object,  covered  with  slime. 

"  The  Prickly  Pear  blooms  into  large  handsome 
yellow  flowers  all  along  the  edges  of  the  leaf.  The 
flowers  have  a  great  many  rows  of  petals  and  a 
fine  rosette  of  stamens  in  the  centre.  The  fruit  is 
a  kind  of  a  berry,  though  very  large,  with  hard 
little  seeds  buried  in  the  pulp.  The  whole  fruit  is 
covered  with  prickly  hairs  to  prevent  undesirable 
animals  from  eating  it.  The  birds,  however,  that 
break  it  up  with  their  bills  and  scatter  the  seeds, 
are  welcome  visitors  to  the  plant. 

"  The  fruit  is  pear-shaped,  about  two  or  three 
inches  long,  and  is  green,  yellow,  or  red,  and  cov- 
ered with  tufts  of  small  spines.  It  is  juicy  and 
wholesome.  It  is  also  known  as  the  Indian  fig 
and  has  been  naturalised  in  Southern  Europe,  and 
in  Algeria  and  other  places  in  Africa. 

"  The  main  object  of  the  cactus's  life  is  not  to 
have  its  leaf  eaten  and  to  have  its  fruit  eaten  by 
the  right  bird  or  animal.  So  it  takes  all  kinds  of 
precautions  to  defend  itself.  Some  varieties  end 
their  leaves  with  sharp  dagger-like  points  such  as 
the  Agave;  others  bunches  of  prickles  or  needle-like 
spines,  others  have  bunches  of  hairs  that  are  very 
irritating  to  the  sensitive  noses  of  browsing  goats, 
sheep  or  cattle. 

"  The  Stone-Crops  from  Mexico  and  Central 
America  and  the  House  Leeks  from  the  Old  World 
behave  just  like  the  Cactuses.  They  usually  grow 
in  chinks  of  the  rocks  or  thirsty  sandy  soil  and  have 
thick  succulent  little  stems  and  leaves,  that  are 
sticky  and  moist,  if  you  squeeze  or  crush  them. 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  141 


The  Stone  Crops  drink  up  all  the  water  they  can 
by  means  of  their  roots  and  store  it  so  that  they 
will  not  wither  when  the  hot  sun  beats  down  on 
them.  Moreover,  they  are  covered  with  an  outer 
skin  that  prevents  evaporation.  The  House  Leeks 
often  grow  on  the  roofs  of  cottages,  whence  their 
name,  and  they  can  stand  the  suns  without  suffer- 
ing. In  Ireland,  a  patch  of  House  Leeks  on  the 
roof  is  regarded  as  a  charm;  for  the  people  think 
no  house  will  ever  catch  fire  if  the  House  Leek  is 
present. 

"  The  next  house  (No.  6),  is  also  devoted  to 
desert  plants, —  mostly  large  ones.  Here  are  vari- 
eties of  the  Century  plants ;  and  here  are  the  thread- 
bearing  Agave,  and  Queen  Victoria's  Agave.  This 
is  the  Mexican  Huariqui,  from  which  green  shoots 
issue  in  the  rainy  season  and  during  the  rest  of  the 
year  it  appears  as  if  dead.  Here  are  more  Aloes; 
the  Yucca;  the  Fig  Marigolds  from  South  Africa; 
and  more  Cactuses." 

"  What  is  this  enormous  stiff  Candlestick  ? " 
asked  Nora. 

"  This  enormous  stiff  candlestick  as  you  call  it, 
Nora,  is  the  Giant  Cactus  and  it  is  often  called  in  its 
native  country,  the  Arizona  Candle.  When  lighted, 
the  spines  burn  readily  and  the  flame  runs  along 
until  it  reaches  the  top  of  the  great  candle.  Can 
you  imagine  what  a  forest  of  these  look  like? 
Hundreds  of  them  sometimes  grow  on  an  acre  of 
desert  land  rising  to  a  height  of  fifty  feet.  The 
natives  call  it  the  Sahuaro,  which  means  the  *  giant 
cactus/  They  use  it  for  firewood  and  for  building 
houses  and  fences." 

"  Does  it  have  flowers  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Yes ;  large  white  waxy  flowers,  sometimes  as 


142  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


many  as  fifty  on  a  single  branch.  They  bloom  in 
May  and  June;  and  about  midsummer  the  stems 
are  full  of  ripe  fruit,  which  most  travellers  like. 
They  eat  the  fleshy  part  that  surrounds  the  numer- 
ous small  black  seeds.  The  Indians  come  on  their 
ponies  and  knock  down  the  fruit  with  long  poles. 
They  eat  the  fruit,  and  also  make  a  drink  of  it  and 
a  kind  of  jam, —  and,  as  for  the  birds,  they  are 
crazy  about  it.  The  woodpeckers,  finches,  thrushes 
and  other  birds  have  a  great  feast  and  it  is  by  their 
aid  that  the  seeds  are  scattered. 

"  The  Giant  Cactus  also  allows  the  woodpeckers 
and  other  birds  to  dig  great  holes  in  the  branches 
in  which  they  build  their  nests;  and,  when  they 
have  gone,  the  bats  and  owls  often  put  up  for  a 
night  in  them;  and  the  cactus-wren  brings  in  some 
sticks  and  straws  and  sets  up  housekeeping. 

"  In  No.  7  we  find  the  Mimosa  and  Senna  fam- 
ilies. They  fold  their  leaves  in  sleep  as  twilight  ap- 
proaches. 

"This  is  the  Sensitive  Plant  (Mimosa  pudica) 
whose  leaves  fold  at  the  least  touch.  This  is  the 
Mahogany,  of  which  fine  furniture  is  made;  this, 
the  Logwood  valuable  for  its  dye;  and  this  tree, 
the  Balsam  Copiaba,  is  found  in  the  South  American 
forests,  growing  to  about  80  feet.  The  liquid 
Balsam  collects  in  the  inside  of  the  tree;  and,  to 
get  it,  the  collector  cuts  a  hole  in  the  trunk  and 
out  gushes  the  liquid  at  the  rate  of  about  a  pint  a 
minute.  In  a  few  hours  the  flow  is  over.  The 
liquid  is  stored  in  hollow  trees,  floated  down  the 
rivers  and  shipped  to  Europe  and  North  America, 
where  it  is  used  for  medicines  and  perfumes. 

"  Here  is  the  Tamarind,  valued  for  its  fruit,  a 
wing-leaved  tree  of  the  bean  family,  and  here  are 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  143 


the  Custard  Apples,  natives  of  the  West  Indies  and 
tropical  America;  here  is  the  Mammee  Apple;  here 
is  the  Chenille  Plant,  also  called  Philippine  Medusa; 
here  is  the  plant  that  bears  the  Barbados  Nut ;  here 
are  the  splendid  showy  Crotons,  members  of  the 
Spurge  family ;  here  are  some  Cactuses  that  grow  on 
trees  in  the  tropical  forests;  and  here  are  some 
members  of  the  Ginseng  family  from  Manchuria. 
The  Chinese  use  the  Ginseng  as  a  medicine.  Its 
forked  root  has  a  curious  likeness  to  the  human 
body,  and  so  they  think  it  can  cure  every  disease. 

"This  house  (No.  8)  we  will  pass  through 
quickly:  here  are  some  Begonias;  various  members 
of  the  Potato  family;  the  African  Violet;  and  the 
Ramie-plant  of  China,  from  which  the  *  grass  cloth  ' 
is  woven.  The  next  house,  devoted  to  the  water- 
plants  is  much  more  attractive.  How  pretty  this 
pool  looks  from  the  bridge  and  what  a  fine  display 
of  grasses  and  graceful  Bamboo  plants!  Do  you 
know  what  that  tall  stalk  is  over  there?  " 

"  I  don't !  "  said  Jack. 

"  Nor  I,"  added  Nora. 

"  That  is  the  Sugar-cane,  from  the  stalks  of 
which  sugar  is  made.  The  sugar-cane  is  a  kind 
of  grass  like  bamboo.  Among  the  sedges  that  one 
over  there  is  the  Papyrus  Reed  from  which  the 
Egyptians  made  paper. 

"  How  lovely  the  Water-Lilies  are ;  there  are  the 
Water  Lettuce,  the  Water-Poppy,  the  Water- 
Hyacinth,  the  Water-Snowflake,  the  Parrots-Feather 
and  the  Floating  Fern. 

"Now  for  the  next  house  (No.  10).  Here  is 
a  family  we  all  know  —  the  Aroids  —  the  Calla 
Lily,  the  Sweet  Flag,  the  Skunk  Cabbage  and  Jack- 
in-the-Pulpit  are  all  Aroids.    We  saw  some  larger 


144  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


members  of  this  family  in  House  No.  4.  We  must 
notice  these  Pineapples;  and  now  look  at  those 
hanging  baskets!    What  do  you  see  in  them?  " 

"  Why  they  are  little  pitchers !  "  exclaimed  Jack. 

"Yes;  these  are  the  Indian  pitcher-plants  — 
Nepenthes.  In  their  native  haunts,  they  are  vines 
that  grow  on  trees,  and  their  leaves  are  shaped  like 
pitchers  with  lids:  they  hold  water  and  secrete  a 
sticky  juice  that  digests  the  insects  that  fall  or 
crawl  into  the  pitchers,  and  it  is  strange  that  all 
the  hairs  point  downward  so  that  the  insects  have 
to  tumble  in.  People  used  to  think  that  the 
pitchers  were  the  flowers;  but  the  flowers  are  very 
small  and  grow  in  clusters.  There  are  many  other 
varieties  of  pitcher-plants  and  plants  that  catch  in- 
sects :  we  shall  find  some  others  presently. 

"  In  the  next  house  (No.  11)  we  see  some  taller 
Pineapples,  some  Bananas,  and  members  of  the 
Ginger  and  Canna  families.  Here  is  the  Musa 
textalis  from  the  Philippines,  that  produces  the 
Manilla  hemp,  and  here  is  the  Ginger  Plant. 

"  Now  here  is  an  interesting  thing, —  the  Trav- 
eller's Tree  from  Madagascar." 

"  Isn't  it  a  kind  of  palm?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Yes ;  and  it  grows  to  about  thirty  or  more 
feet.  The  broad  leaves  of  the  plant  collect  rain 
water  which  trickles  down  the  leaf  stalk  and  col- 
lects at  the  base;  and  all  the  traveller  has  to  do  is 
take  his  knife  and  pierce  the  stalk.  The  water 
gushes  out,  and  he  gets  a  refreshing  drink. 

"  In  this  house  the  chief  plants  to  interest  us  are 
the  Strelitzia  tribe  from  South  Africa.  One  of 
these  is  called  the  Bird  of  Paradise  Flower,  and  here 
it  is." 

"  Hello !  another  Pitcher-Plant,"  exclaimed  Jack, 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  145 


glad  to  discover  an  old  acquaintance,  as  they  entered 
House  No.  12. 

"Yes;  this  has  a  lip  something  like  a  pitcher; 
but  the  tube  is  tall  and  lined  inside  with  hairs.  It 
is  also  a  carnivorous  plant  and  attracts  the  insects, 
which  die  in  the  sticky  juice  and  are  gradually  dis- 
solved and  absorbed  by  the  plant.  These  are  also 
called  Side-Saddle  flowers,  because  the  petals  of 
the  flowers  hang  down  like  a  lady's  riding  dress. 

"  Here  are  some  more  insect-eating  flowers,  the 
Sundews,  a  most  peculiar  and  interesting  family. 
Their  leaves  are  all  furnished  with  small  hairs,  each 
one  of  which  discharges  at  its  tip  a  drop  of  thick 
acrid  juice;  and  these  leaves  are  so  sensitive,  or,  as 
botanists  say  '  irritable,'  that  the  leaves  close  to- 
gether or  contract  when  touched.  If  a  fly,  or  other 
insect,  alights  on  the  leaf,  it  closes  together  and 
imprisons  it.  Then  the  plant  actually  digests  the 
insect  by  means  of  some  kind  of  special  juice. 

"  Another  insect-eating  plant  is  the  Venus-Fly- 
Trap,  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  a  relative  of 
the  Sundew  family  —  an  American  cousin.  The 
leaves,  as  you  see,  rise  from  the  centre  in  the  form 
of  a  rosette;  and  each  leaf  is  in  two  parts,  or  lobes, 
and  each  lobe  is  fringed  with  tiny  hairs.  The  in- 
sect barely  alights  on  one  of  these  lobes, —  when 
snap,  the  two  parts  shut  as  if  with  a  spring,  and 
the  hairs  interlace,  just  as  your  fingers  do  when  you 
clasp  your  hands  together.  The  sticky  juice  ab- 
sorbs the  fly  which  is  food  for  the  plant." 

"  I  call  that  an  easy  way  of  going  to  market," 
said  Jack. 

"  This  plant  from  Southern  Africa  is  called 
Agathosma  apiculata,  and  its  leaves  secrete  an  oil 
that  is  disagreeable  at  times.    The  Stinking  Cedar, 


146  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


from  the  Apalachicola  River  in  Florida  is  a  kind  of 
yew.  After  we  have  looked  at  the  Grevilleas  and 
Hakeas  from  Australia,  we  will  go  into  House 
No.  13." 

"  Have  we  been  through  twelve  houses  already?  " 
asked  Nora.    "  I  never  should  have  thought  it !  " 

"  We  will  pass  by  the  Yews,  Pines  and  Myrtles 
to  look  at  this  tall  Bottle-Brush  Tree  and  these  Gum 
trees  from  Australia  and  Tasmania.  The  latter 
are  the  Eucalyptus,  which  grow  sometimes  to  a 
height  of  200  or  400  feet.  The  Camphor  Tree  is 
found  chiefly  in  Sumatra  and  Borneo,  where  it 
grows  as  high  as  90  feet." 

"  Is  this  the  camphor  that  we  put  up  our  clothes 
with  from  the  moths  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Yes ;  the  camphor  is  a  gum.  The  tree  is  cut 
down  and  chopped  into  blocks;  and  the  camphor 
gum  is  found  in  the  fissures  of  the  wood, —  white 
and  clear." 

"  I  love  the  smell  of  it,"  said  Jack. 

"  The  beautiful  Camellia,  belongs  to  the  Tea 
family,"  Doodle  went  on  explaining;  "  and  now  we 
come  to  the  Tea  Plant  itself." 

"What!  The  tea  we  drink?"  asked  Jack,  very 
much  surprised. 

"  Yes ;  and  I  am  going  to  tell  you  a  story  about  it, 
—  the  story  the  Chinese  tell  regarding  its  origin. 

"  Once  upon  a  time  a  devout  and  pious  hermit 
during  his  wanderings  became  very,  very  sleepy 
while  he  was  praying  to  his  god,  and  was  nearly 
overcome.  But  just  as  his  eyelids  closed,  he  tore 
them  from  his  eyes  and  threw  them  on  the  ground. 
The  god  was  so  pleased  that  he  immediately  caused 
the  tea-plant  to  spring  up  out  of  them,  the  leaves 
of  which  are  in  '  the  form  of  an  eyelid  bordered 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  147 


with  lashes  and  possess  the  gift  of  hindering 
sleep.' 

"  We  have  not  much  time  to  spend  upon  the 
Australian  Acacias ;  the  Fig-tree ;  the  Oleanders ;  the 
Olive ;  and  the  Yellow  Jessamine,  one  of  the  sweet- 
est flowers  that  ever  grew,  is  not  in  bloom.  We 
must  come  here  next  February  to  see  its  sweet 
pretty  bells. 

"  The  Fan- Palm  of  the  California  desert  and  the 
Palmetto  of  our  southern  states  are  also  interesting. 

"  And  now  for  the  next  house  (No.  14)  in  which 
are  the  Rosemary  plants,  some  interesting  members 
of  the  Thistle  Family,  and  the  Parachute  flower 
from  Natal,  that  sends  its  seeds  off  on  the  breeze 
like  little  balloons.  Now  we  come  to  the  Orchid 
House  (No.  15). 

"  The  only  plant  in  this  house  that  is  not  an 
orchid  is  that  fine  palm  on  the  central  bench.  It 
is  one  of  the  rarest  palms  in  cultivation  and  is  called 
the  Coco  de  Mer —  the  Sea  Cocoanut  —  and  also 
the  Double  Cocoanut.  It  is  a  native  of  the  small 
group  of  islands  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  called  the 
Seychelles,  where  it  grows  a  hundred  feet  high  and 
is  crowned  with  fan-shaped  leaves.  The  fruit  is  a 
long,  oblong  nut;  and,  when  the  outer  rind  is  re- 
moved, the  inside  looks  like  two  nuts.  Carried  by 
the  sea  to  distant  shores,  people  who  had  never  seen 
the  fruit  growing,  thought  it  was  produced  on  some 
tree  under  the  sea,  and  called  it  Coco  de  mer  in 
consequence.  The  nuts  grow  in  bunches,  nine  or 
ten  nuts  in  each  bunch,  and  which  often  weigh  as 
much  as  four  hundred  pounds.  The  natives  use  the 
shell  for  various  articles  and  make  hats  and  baskets 
out  of  the  leaves." 

"  What  are  orchids,  Doodle?  99  asked  Nora. 


148  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Orchid  is  the  name  given  to  a  very  large,  pe- 
culiar and  fascinating  family  of  which  there  are 
more  than  five  thousand  species.  With  a  few  ex- 
ceptions that  grow  in  the  groves,  meadows  and 
marshes  of  Europe  and  North  America  (Jack-in- 
the-Pulpit  is  one),  they  are  natives  of  tropical 
countries.  They  love  to  grow  in  hot,  damp  places 
and  in  dense  jungles.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  do 
not  need  any  soil  for  their  growth;  but  cling  to 
the  branches  and  trunks  of  the  trees,  or  to  stones 
and  crags.  These  are  called  air-plants,  and  in  the 
hot-houses,  as  you  see  here,  are  cultivated  on  blocks 
of  oak  or  other  wood,  with  or  without  moss  about 
their  roots. 

"  Orchids  are  the  most  fantastic  of  all  flowers 
and  have  the  queerest  habits.  The  blossoms  are 
strange  in  form,  beautifully  coloured  and  most 
of  them  deliciously  scented,  like  the  Vanilla, 
for  instance  which  —  here  it  is  —  is  an  air- 
plant.  One  peculiarity  of  the  Orchid  is  that  it  has 
one  largely  developed  petal,  a  kind  of  under  lip, 
which  is  not  only  bigger  than  the  other  petals  but 
always  more  beautifully  coloured,  spotted  or 
splashed,  than  the  rest.  Botanists  say  that  it  is 
decorated  and  arranged  to  attract  the  insect.  The 
latter  always  alight  upon  it  —  a  sort  of  door-step 
to  the  flower,  that  attracts  the  wished-for  visitor." 

"  Why  does  the  orchid  want  to  attract  the  in- 
sect? "  asked  Nora. 

"  The  orchid  wants  the  insect  (generally  a  bee) 
to  carry  the  pollen  off  to  some  of  the  other  orchids 
in  the  distance;  and  attracts  him  with  the  beautiful 
colours  and  scents  and  honey;  and  when  the  insect 
alights  and  pushes  his  furry  little  body  into  the 
flower,  some  of  the  pollen  rubs  off  upon  the  insect's 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  149 


back,  or  on  his  twiddling  feelers,  and  off  he  goes 
with  the  pollen.  Some  of  the  orchids  are  so  anx- 
ious to  have  the  insect  enter  their  cups  that  as  soon 
as  he  alights  on  the  doorstep,  or  lip,  the  doorstep 
gives  a  kind  of  spring  and  shoots  him  down  into 
the  flower." 

"  I  never  heard  of  such  a  queer  thing,"  said  Nora. 

"If  all  these  orchids  were  in  bloom,"  said  Doodle, 
"  we  should  see  a  great  variety  of  strange  shapes. 
Some  would  look  like  butterflies ;  some,  like  big 
moths;  some,  like  snakes,  toads,  lizards,  bees,  flies, 
spiders,  or  dragon-flies ;  some,  like  helmets,  swords, 
spurs,  slippers,  arrows,  caps  and  heads;  and  some, 
like  birds  —  even  to  the  imitation  of  the  feathers. 
Some  strange  ones  resemble  swans,  with  proudly 
swelling  necks,  and  others  a  pure  white  dove  hover- 
ing in  the  centre  of  the  snowy  petals.  Here  is  a 
butterfly,  with  yellow  wings  dotted  with  brown 
spots, —  and  here  is  a  crimson  grasshopper !  Did 
you  ever  know  that  there  were  such  peculiar 
flowers?" 

"How  did  they  get  all  these  orchids,  Doodle?" 
asked  Jack. 

"  That  is  a  very  interesting  question,  Jack.  They 
were  collected  at  great  cost  of  time,  money  and  hard- 
ship. The  orchid-hunter  has  to  be  a  very  brave  man. 
Orchids  grow,  as  I  told  you,  in  very  inaccessible 
places,  in  the  depths  of  dark,  damp,  hot  jungles, 
where  the  hunter  has  to  cut  his  way  through  the 
tangled  mass  of  foliage  and  ropes  of  vines, —  in 
some  cases  where  man  has  never  set  foot  before. 
Often,  too,  he  has  to  seek  for  his  plants  among 
savages,  or  half-civilised  tribes  that  resent  his  in- 
trusion. Sometimes  he  has  to  wade  through  stag- 
nant swamps,  be  on  the  watch  for  wild  beasts,  such  as 


150  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


tigers  and  panthers  and  pumas,  and  guard  against 
the  bite  of  poisonous  snakes,  lizards,  spiders,  ants, 
flies  and  other  insects  that  he  cannot  distinguish  in 
the  dense  jungle  from  the  leaves  and  sticks  and 
blossoms.  You  have  seen  some  of  the  snakes  — 
the  Boas  and  Bush-masters  and  Anacondas  in  the 
Reptile  House  in  the  Zoological  Park.  So  terrible 
and  fatal  are  the  dangers,  that  many  a  daring  or- 
chid-hunter loses  his  life,  or  falls  ill  with  some 
dreadful  fever  and  dies. 

"  When  an  orchid-hunter  sees  a  flower  that  he 
wants,  there  are  three  ways  to  get  it:  he  may  cut 
down  the  tree  to  which  it  clings;  he  may  lasso  the 
branch  on  which  it  hangs;  or  he  may  climb  up  to 
the  orchid, —  but  if  he  does  this  he  is  often  con- 
fronted by  the  head  of  a  venomous  snake  among 
the  leaves  and  millions  and  millions  of  angry  ants 
make  a  dash  at  him. 

"  Then,  too,  it  is  a  disappointing  business,  be- 
cause, after  months  and  months  of  searching  and 
the  patient  gathering  of  many  specimens,  they  may 
be  lost  on  the  way  home,  or  hurt  in  some  way.  I 
have  heard  of  one  hunter,  who,  after  months  of 
searching,  got  four  thousand  rare  orchids  together; 
and  on  the  way  home  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  ship's 
hold  and  burned  every  one  of  them!  Another 
time  a  collector  spent  a  year  in  the  Philippines, 
with  a  hundred  natives  and  secured  a  thousand 
plants;  but  not  one  survived;  and  on  another  oc- 
casion twenty-seven  thousand  beautiful  orchids 
were  collected  and  only  two  lived.  No  wonder 
that  these  specimens  are  highly  prized  and  are 
valued  at  thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars ! " 

On  their  way  out  the  party  stopped  at  the  Con- 
servatory Court  to  see  the  large  Century  Plant. 


A  MORNING  WITH  THE  PLANTS  151 


"  That  tall  stalk  in  the  centre,  which  is  now  about 
eight  feet  high,  is  growing  at  the  rate  of  two  inches 
a  day,"  Doodle  explained,  "  and  when  it  becomes 
about  twice  as  high  as  it  is  now,  it  will  flower. 
People  used  to  think  that  the  Century  Plant  bloomed 
only  when  it  reached  the  age  of  a  hundred  years 
and  that  when  it  blossomed  it  made  a  noise  like  a 
gun.  Now  botanists  say  that  it  flowers  at  the  age 
of  forty  or  fifty  years,  and  dies  immediately  after- 
wards. In  Mexico,  the  Century  Plant  is  used  for 
fences,  and  from  it  the  national  drink,  Pulque,  is 
made. 


CHAPTER  VII 


A  PICNIC  BY  THE  WATERFALL 

IN  WHICH  JACK  AND  NORA  ENJOY  A  FEAST  IN  THE 
HEMLOCK  FOREST  AND  LEARN  THE  QUEER  HAB- 
ITS AND  OUTRAGEOUS  CONDUCT  OF  SOME  MEMBERS 
OF  THE  VEGETABLE  WORLD;  AFTER  A  STROLL 
THROUGH  THE  GARDENS  AND  THE  BOTANICAL 
MUSEUM,  RETURN  HOME,  QUITE  TIRED  AFTER  A 
LONG  AND  HAPPY  DAY. 

"  Now  we  will  get  our  baskets  and  stroll  down 
to  the  Hemlock  Forest,"  said  Doodle,  "  and  have 
our  luncheon  by  the  Waterfall.  This  path  leading 
between  the  Morphological  Garden  and  the  Her- 
baceous grounds  and  through  the  Woodlands  will 
certainly  bring  us  there, —  that  is,  if  this  map  is  to 
be  trusted.  What  do  you  think  ? "  and  Doodle 
handed  the  map  to  Jack. 

The  latter,  looking  at  it  earnestly  for  a  minute 
was  quite  satisfied  with  the  diagram's  good  inten- 
tions; and  so  they  wandered  along  enjoying  the 
pretty  scenery;  the  hot  smell  of  the  grass  and  trees; 
and  the  bright  sunlight ;  and  even  the  sharp,  sizzling 
call  of  the  locusts. 

"  I  didn't  know  it  was  such  a  big  Waterfall," 
said  Nora,  when  they  reached  this  charming  spot, 
where  the  Bronx  makes  its  leap  over  the  rocks. 

"  Here  is  a  jolly  place  for  us  to  sit !  "  cried  Jack, 
who  had  run  on  ahead  and  discovered  a  big  boulder 

152 


A  PICNIC  BY  THE  WATERFALL  153 


comfortably  provided  with  ledges  and  corners, 
"  and  now  let's  open  the  baskets.  I'll  take  this  one ! 
May  I  open  it?  " 

"  I  think,"  said  Doodle,  nodding  assent,  "  that 
we  have  seen  everything  that  we  have  brought  with 
us  growing  in  its  original  state  except  these  dainty 
sandwiches  that  your  Mother  made,  for  we  haven't 
seen  any  wheatfields  and  we  haven't  seen  any  pigs 
or  chickens." 

"  I  haven't  seen  any  napkin  plants,"  laughed 
Nora. 

"  We  can  see  the  flax  out  of  which  linen  is  made 
presently ;  and  you  certainly  saw  the  bananas  grow- 
ing, and  the  beans  out  of  which  this  cake  of  sweet 
chocolate  was  made,"  replied  Doodle,  unpacking 
the  other  basket,  "  and  the  figs  and  the  dates  — " 

"  Oh !  what's  this !  "  interrupted  Jack,  as  he  took 
out  of  his  basket  some  round  yellow  cakes,  thin  as 
wafers. 

"  Aha !  "  said  Doodle.    M  Guess !  " 

"  I  can't !    I  give  it  up,"  said  Jack. 

"  Cassava  bread,"  answered  Doodle,  "  made  from 
the  Manihot,  one  of  the  Spurge  family  you  saw  in 
the  Conservatory." 

"  Does  it  grow  like  bread-fruit?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  No;  this  is  made  from  the  roots.  The  natives 
of  the  West  Indies  and  tropical  America  grate  the 
fleshy  roots,  then  pound  the  mess  into  a  kind  of 
flour  which  they  make  into  cakes.  People  eat 
Cassava  bread  a  great  deal  in  those  countries." 

"  I  like  it,"  said  Jack,  taking  a  cautious  nibble 
at  one,  and  then  looking  at  it  critically. 

"  So  do  I,"  said  Nora,  munching  away  industri- 
ously at  hers. 

"  Here  are  some  lemons,"  continued  Doodle, 


154 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  and  some  sugar  (you  saw  the  lemon-trees  and 
the  sugar-cane)  and  here  are  two  little  glasses  and 
Jack's  folding-cup.  We  will  have  some  lemonade 
ready  in  a  minute.  Nora,  will  you  please  squeeze 
the  lemons,  while  I  get  the  water?  " 

"  How  I  love  picnics !  "  and  Nora  gave  a  de- 
lighted sigh  of  contentment. 

"I  don't,"  said  Jack  airily.  "I  hate  'em/' 
which  was  his  peculiar  boyish  way  of  getting  rid 
of  his  enthusiasm. 

"  Well  you  have  seen  a  great  many  plants,"  said 
Doodle,  while  they  were  enjoying  their  lunch  "  and 
now  you  know  that  there  is  a  great  world  of  plants. 
Plants  seem  to  have  two  ideas  and  they  struggle 
with  might  and  main  to  accomplish  their  objects. 
The  first  is  how  to  nourish  and  take  care  of  them- 
selves; and  the  second  is  to  have  a  large  family. 
So  the  first  thing  they  do  is  to  grow  strong  and 
healthy  and  keep  well  —  everything  that  you  have 
to  do,  except  run  and  play.  They  can't  do  that, 
poor  things !  " 

"  Poor  things !  "  laughed  Nora. 

"  They  don't  have  to  do  one  thing  that  we  have 
to  do,"  sighed  Jack,  "  and  that  is  go  to  school." 

"  They  may  not  go  to  school,"  said  Doodle,  "  but 
they  certainly  are  very  wonderfully  educated." 

"Educated! "  exclaimed  Nora  and  Jack  in  as- 
tonishment, "  what  do  you  mean,  Doodle,  how  edu- 
cated?" 

"  I  will  tell  you  a  few  facts  about  plants ;  and 
then  you  can  tell  me  if  you  don't  think  they  have 
learned  a  great  deal  in  Nature's  great  school. 

"  To  get  strong  and  keep  well,  then,  they  have  to 
feed  and  drink  and  sleep  and  breathe  the  proper  air 
and  get  the  right  amount  of  sunshine  or  shade  and 


A  PICNIC  BY  THE  WATERFALL  155 


sleep  and  keep  a  sharp  look  out  against  their  ene- 
mies." 

"  Sleep  and  eat !  "  exclaimed  the  children. 

"  Generally  speaking,  they  feed  through  their 
leaves.  On  the  under  side  of  the  leaf  are  many 
little  mouths,  or  cells,  which  absorb  the  air  and 
digest  it,  so  to  speak,  taking  in  the  carbonic  acid, 
which  the  plant  wants,  and  giving  out  the  oxygen, 
which  it  does  not  want.  Now  animals  and  people 
do  the  opposite.  We  breathe  the  oxygen  and  re- 
ject the  carbonic  acid;  and,  so,  you  see,  there  is  a 
kind  of  bargain  or  agreement  between  us.  To  be 
healthy,  the  plant  has  to  have  sunshine ;  and  the  most 
perfect  plants  are  those  which  have  the  leaves  so 
arranged  that  each  and  all  get  as  much  sunlight  and 
air  as  possible. 

"  After  feeding  in  the  sunlight  and  air  all  day, 
the  plant  rests  at  night,  often  folding  its  leaves  to- 
gether. You  may  have  seen  the  clover  do  this. 
Some  plants  also  sleep  in  the  day  time,  turning 
their  sensitive  leaves  edgewise  to  the  sun. 

"  Now  in  order  to  get  the  light  and  air  which 
is  food  for  them  —  except  those  insect-eating  plants 
that  we  saw  —  they  behave  most  outrageously ;  and 
while  I  want  you  to  admire  the  beauties  and  won- 
ders of  the  vegetable  world,  I  do  not  want  you  to 
admire  the  selfish  and  reprehensible  character  of 
plants.  They  will  condescend  to  commit  every 
mean  action,  underhand  trick,  and  wicked  deed." 

Jack  and  Nora  opened  their  eyes  very  wide. 

"  In  the  Brazil  Nut,  fifteen  or  twenty  seeds  germ- 
inate at  once  and  the  strongest  gets  through  a 
little  hole  in  the  top  and  strangles  and  feeds  upon 
all  its  sisters  and  brothers !  What  do  you  think  of 
that? 


156  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  I  know  of  another  plant 1  that  produces  a  great 
many  seeds  and  the  vigorous  seeds  go  to  work  and 
kill  all  the  weak  ones.  What  do  you  think  of 
that} 

"  And  I  know  of  another  that 2  grows  up  from  a 
seed  dropped  on  a  certain  tree,  sends  its  long  root 
into  the  soil  and  presently  chokes  and  strangles  its 
foster  mother!    What  do  you  think  of  that?  " 

The  children  looked  horrified;  but  soon  Nora, 
with  a  twinkle  in  her  brown  eyes,  asked :  "  Don't 
you  know  of  any  plants  that  have  better  man- 
ners?" 

"  Yes,  I  do,"  answered  Doodle,  "  and  kinder 
hearts.  My  plant  acquaintance  isn't  restricted  to 
bad  characters.  Many  plants  take  great  care  of 
their  little  ones,  for  instance.  They  don't  go  so  far 
as  to  buy  pretty  cradles  draped  with  silk  and  lace 
for  their  babies;  but  they  certainly  do  wrap  them 
up  in  the  softest,  nicest  downiest  leaves  you  can 
imagine  and  provide  sunshades  and  umbrellas  to 
protect  them  from  too  much  light  or  too  much  rain. 
Some  of  the  large-leaved  palms  —  those  that  we 
saw  in  the  Palm  House  ( fourteen  feet  long)  tie  the 
young  ones  in  at  the  base  of  the  leaf  for  the  sake  of 
protection;  the  young  buds  of  some  tropical  trees 
hang  downwards,  so  as  to  expose  the  least  surface 
to  the  sun ;  and  some  plants  place  prickles  and  spines, 
sticky  gum,  or  a  globe  of  sap,  around  the  tiny  child. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  some  plants,  like  the  Wild 
Carrot,  for  example,  (you  see  I  am  constantly  think- 
ing about  my  bad  acquaintances)  produces  so  many 
seeds  that  the  parent  doesn't  care  if  hundreds  of  its 
offspring  die,  because  plenty  are  left  to  carry  on 

1The  Herculeum  giganteum. 
2  The  Ficus  parasitica. 


A  PICNIC  BY  THE  WATERFALL  157 


the  family  name  and  traditions.  Now  what  do  you 
think, —  are  plants  educated  or  not?  " 

"  What  /  would  like  to  know,"  said  Jack,  "  is, 
who  taught  the  plants  to  do  all  these  things." 

"  And  so  should  I,"  said  Doodle,  "  very,  very 
much.  My  watch,  however,  says  that  we  shall  not 
have  very  long  to  stay  in  the  Museum  unless  we 
hurry  away;  and,  besides,  we  want  to  go  back  by 
way  of  the  Herbaceous  Grounds." 

Retracing  their  steps  along  the  same  path  by 
which  they  reached  the  Waterfall,  the  three  then 
encircled  the  Herbaceous  Grounds.  In  this  sys- 
tematic plantation  the  plants  are  grouped  by  natural 
families  in  botanical  relationship.  Through  this 
pretty  valley,  moreover,  runs  a  small  stream, 
which  here  and  there  widens  into  pools ;  and  along 
the  stream,  or  in  it,  many  aquatic  plants  are  to  be 
seen. 

Doodle  thought  it  best  to  begin  where  the  series 
of  beds  starts  in  the  southern  corner  of  the  valley, 
at  the  foot-path  entrance  where  the  hardy  ferns  are 
planted.  In  the  neighbouring  pond  are  cat-tails  and 
reeds ;  and,  following  to  the  north,  comes  the  large 
group  of  grasses,  such  as  the  Timothy,  Kentucky 
blue-grass,  reed-canary  grass,  the  Japanese  plume- 
grass,  the  ribbon-grass  and  the  sweet  vernal  grass 
that  has  such  a  pleasant  odour  when  bruised;  then 
come  the  sedges  and  the  bullrushes;  and  then  the 
arums,  including  Jack-in-the-Pulpit  and  the  sweet 
flags. 

Next  the  rush  family;  the  lily  family,  with  their 
relatives,  the  onions,  for  neighbours ;  the  amaryllis 
family ;  and  then  the  iris  family,  with  all  the  pretty 
varieties  of  blue  and  yellow  flags,  claimed  their  at- 
tention. 


158  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


Crossing  the  brook  they  now  came  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sequence  of  plants  with  net-veined 
leaves  —  nettles,  wild  ginger,  buckwheat,  docks, 
rhubarb  and  the  goose  foot  family;  next  the  ama- 
ranth family,  including  some  of  the  commonest 
weeds  of  our  roadsides,  one  of  which  was  the  Four 
o'clock,  the  flowers  of  which  opens  in  the  after- 
noons. Three  beds  of  pinks  happened  to  be  in 
bloom ;  and  then  in  the  first  big  pool  here  also  some 
of  the  water-lily  family  —  yellow  ones,  white  ones, 
pink  ones.  Among  the  beds  westward  they  saw 
some  larkspurs,  columbines,  buttercups. 

"  Columbines  for  me!  "  cried  Jack  as  he  spied  the 
lovely  scarlet  bells,  for  which  he  had  a  great  fancy. 

"  Now  let  us  look  for  the  poppies,"  said  Doodle, 
"  and  here  they  are  —  from  Japan  and  Mexico  and 
many  other  places ;  and  as  we  are  not  very  far  away 
from  the  roses,  suppose  we  see  if  in  the  five  beds 
devoted  to  the  Queen  of  Flowers  there  are  any  in 
bloom!  " 

Not  far  from  the  spurges  they  found  the  flax 
plants,  from  the  fibre  of  which  linen  is  made;  but 
time  being  short  Doodle  concluded  not  to  walk  fur- 
ther afield  to  see  the  mallows  and  hollyhocks,  the 
rock-roses,  the  primroses,  plumbagos,  milkweeds, 
phloxes,  mint,  foxgloves,  plantain  family,  bell-flower 
family  and  the  cardinal  flowers;  but  passed  to  the 
great  thistle -family,  which  includes  the  splendid  sun 
flowers. 

"  If  I  were  going  to  have  a  garden,"  said  Nora, 
"  I  would  plant  it  with-  fairy  flowers,  entirely.  I 
would  have  nothing  in  it  but  fairy  flowers." 

"  So  would  I,"  said  Jack,  "  what  can  we  plant, 
Doodle?" 

"  Roses  first,  plenty  of  roses,  and  honeysuckle, 


A  PICNIC  BY  THE  WATERFALL  159 


violets  and  wild  thyme  and  plenty  of  cowslips  — 
Ariel  used  to  lie  in  a  cowslip's  bell,  you  remember; 
and  don't  forget  the  foxgloves  and  plenty  of  ferns; 
and  you  can  have  four-leaved  clovers,  and  tulips  — 
faries  rock  their  babies  in  the  cups  of  the  tulips  — 
and  — " 

"  Some  toad-stools  and  mushrooms  for  tables !  " 
cried  Jack,  "  fairies  always  sit  at  mushrooms  and 
toad-stools  at  their  parties." 

"  Oh,  of  course !  "  replied  Doodle,  "  and  wherever 
the  fairies  dance,  the  green  grass  rings  will  spring 
up;  and  oh,  by  the  way,  don't  forget  an  elder  bush, 
for  at  twelve  o'clock  on  Midsummer  Night  the 
King  of  Fairy-land  will  pass  under  it,  as  sure  as 
you  live;  but  whatever  you  do,  don't  plant  any 
yellow  flowers  because  fairies  abominate  yellow 
flowers." 

"Oh!  what  shall  I  do?"  exclaimed  Nora,  "for 
I  love  yellow  flowers  so  dearly." 

"  Do  they  like  red,  Doodle  ?  "  asked  Jack,  with 
much  concern.    "  Red's  my  favourite  colour." 

"  Oh,  yes !  They  like  the  cowslips  because  they 
are  speckled  with  rubies,  you  know ;  and  rubies  are 
red.    But  here  we  are  at  the  Museum." 

Pausing  to  look  at  the  bronze  fountain  that 
adorns  the  approach  to  this  building  and  to  rest  a 
moment  or  two  on  the  marble  seats,  they  entered 
the  main  floor  of  the  Museum,  which  is  devoted 
to  the  exhibition  of  plant  products  that  are  useful 
to  man. 

"  We  saw  useful  plants  growing  in  the  Conserva- 
tories this  morning,"  said  Doodle,  "  here  we  can  see 
what  articles  are  made  from  them.  This  whole  floor 
is  devoted  to  foods,  fibres,  drugs  and  woods.  All 
that  big  East  Hall  and  East  Wing  contains  cases 


i6o  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


full  of  drugs  and  North  American  woods.  I 
think,  however,  we  will  not  trouble  to  go  through 
it;  and  so  we  will  quickly  look  at  the  fibres  (cotton, 
linen,  hemp,  etc.)  in  Sections  1-3  in  the  West  Hall; 
at  the  India-rubber,  with  the  implements  and  uten- 
sils used  in  collecting  '  rubber-milk '  from  the 
tropical  trees  (Section  4)  ;  spices  and  flavouring  ex- 
tracts —  ginger,  cinnamon,  cloves,  pepper,  etc. 
(Section  5)  ;  tanning-materials,  fodder-plants,  to- 
bacco and  other  chewing  plants;  chocolate,  coffee, 
and  other  beverages;  and  oils,  starches,  cork,  paper 
and  sugars  (Sections  5-1 1).  The  last  three  sec- 
tions (12-14)  m  the  West  Hall  are  occupied  by 
foods. 

"  So  much  for  this  floor.  Now  let  us  go  up- 
stairs. Here  we  find  specimens,  drawings  and 
photographs  of  all  the  natural  families  of  plants, 
beginning  with  the  simplest  and  ending  with  the 
most  complex  ones.  So  here  is  displayed  in  one 
way  or  another  the  whole  plant-world. 

"  These  cases  will  interest  you.  I  think  —  the 
Sea-weeds  —  brown  ones,  green  ones,  red,  pink 
and  purple  ones;  and  next  to  them  we  may  glance 
at  the  fungi,  which  include  mushrooms  and  lichens ; 
and  then  at  all  the  mosses  and  ferns;  and  now  we 
come  to  the  flowering-plants  (Cases  56  to  128) 
and  the  fruit-bearing  plants.  But  we  can't  stop 
here,  any  longer,  for  it  is  getting  late.  Suppose  we 
go  into  the  basement  to  see  the  fossil  plants."  The 
children  were  of  course  willing  and  Doodle  told 
them  that  thousands  and  thousands  and  thousands  of 
years  ago,  before  man  appeared  on  the  earth,  the 
trees  and  plants  and  flowers  were  growing  all  over 
the  world ;  and  that  their  leaves  and  stems  and  trunks 
falling  on  the  sands  and  mud  left  their  impression. 


A  PICNIC  BY  THE  WATERFALL  161 


In  the  course  of  time,  the  sand  and  mud  were  covered 
over  by  other  layers  of  sand  and  mud  and  after  a 
while  turned  to  solid  rock.  Some  of  the  plants 
long  ago  turned  to  coal,  and  that  rocks  with  these 
impressions  are  called  fossil  rocks. 

"  We  will  begin  at  the  first  case  to  the  left  as 
we  enter,"  said  Doodle.  "  Now  these  fossils  that 
we  see  in  cases  Nos.  i  to  4  were  originally  marine 
plants  that  turned  to  coal;  and  we  also  find  here 
the  earliest  fern-plants;  cone-bearing  plants,  like 
cedars  and  firs;  and  seed-bearing  plants.  In  case 
No.  5  the  plants  are  mostly  sago-palms,  or  cycads, 
fern  plants  and  cone-bearers;  in  No.  6  plants  of  a 
later  period  are  shown  —  those  that  bear  seeds  are 
becoming  more  numerous  in  this  age  (they  are 
called  Angiosperms)  ;  but  the  ferns  and  cone- 
bearers  are  still  growing.  Now  we  cross  over  into 
the  other  side  of  the  hall,  where  Nos.  7  and  8  ex- 
hibit what  is  called  the  Middle  Cretaceous  Flora; 
in  No.  9  are  plants  of  the  Upper  Cretaceous;  and 
in  Nos.  10  to  12,  the  Neozoic,  early  Tertiary, 
Eocene,  Miocene  and  Quaternary  plants.  We 
will  look  up  these  hard  names  the  first  rainy  clay 
when  we  sha'n't  want  to  go  anywhere  and  I  have 
many  pictures  that  will  show  you  what  the  earth 
looked  like  when  these  plants  were  growing.  All 
these  fossils,  however,  show  us  that  our  earth  was 
first  covered  with  sea-weeds;  then  came  ferns  and 
club-mosses;  then  the  cone-bearing  trees,  such  as 
pines  and  firs;  then  the  plants  with  one  seed-leaf, 
like  the  palms  and  cycads;  then  the  grasses;  then 
the  flower-bearing  plants;  and  then,  last  of  all  the 
insect-fertilised  plants  with  the  most  beautiful 
flowers  of  all. 

"  Butterflies  have  been  found  in  fossil-rocks,  just 


1 62  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


about  the  time  that  the  flowers  and  plants  that  we 
see  in  cases  Nos.  10  to  12  appeared;  but  scientists 
believe  that  bees,  wasps,  beetles,  ants  and  other 
insects  were  in  existence  before  the  butterflies  and 
moths  came.  The  fossils  in  Nos.  11  and  12,  show 
us  that  our  earth  wore  a  beautiful  garment  thous- 
ands of  years  ago.  Trees,  shrubs,  grasses  and 
flowering  plants  were  abundant.  Blossoming 
magnolias,  plum,  hawthorn,  almond  and  tulip  trees 
and  flowers  with  starry  crowns  like  daisies,  dande- 
lions and  sunflowers  were  scattered  all  over  the 
world,  while  on  the  ponds  and  rivers  lovely  water 
lilies  opened  their  cups  to  the  golden  light  of  the 
same  sun  that  shines  to-day. 

"  There,  they  are  beginning  to  close  the  Museum 
—  it  is  five  o'clock  and  we  shall  have  to  hurry  if  we 
want  to  catch  the  next  train." 

"  I  think  we  can  do  it,"  said  Jack. 

Hurrying  to  the  station  they  were  fortunate 
enough  to  arrive  just  as  the  train  came  puffing 
along;  and  were,  therefore  enabled  to  reach  home 
before  dark. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


A  VISIT   TO  THE   NATURAL  HISTORY 
MUSEUM 

IN  WHICH  NORA,  JACK  AND  DOODLE  SEE  SOME 
VISITORS  FROM  THE  STARRY  SKIES;  CURIOSITIES 
OF  THE  SAVAGE  RACES;  ARTICLES  FROM  THE 
NEIGHBOURHOOD  OF  THE  NORTH  POLE;  MAKE 
THE  ACQUAINTANCE  OF  GIGANTIC  MONSTERS  OF 
PRE-HISTORIC  TIMES;  AND  SEE  MANY  OTHER 
THINGS  OF  INTEREST. 

"  What  are  we  going  to  see  here  ?  99  the  children 
asked  Doodle,  as  they  approached  the  entrance  of 
the  Natural  History  Museum  on  77th  Street  be- 
tween Columbus  Avenue  and  Central  Park  West. 

"  We  are  going  to  see  some  things  that  will  help 
us  understand  the  history  of  our  earth.  We  have 
seen  fishes  at  the  Aquarium;  birds,  animals  and 
reptiles  at  the  Zoological  Park;  trees,  plants  and 
flowers  at  the  Botanical  Gardens ; —  now  we  will 
learn  something  about  the  strange  creatures  that 
lived  on  our  globe  before  the  days  of  man.  We 
saw  the  impressions  of  a  few  fossil  plants,  you 
remember,  in  the  great  slabs  of  rocks  in  the  Botan- 
ical Museum  the  other  day, —  well,  to-day  we  are 
going  to  see  some  fossil  animals;  we  are  also  going 
to  look  at  the  Indian  and  Mexican  and  Eskimo 
articles ;  and  the  stuffed  birds  and  animals ; —  oh, 
I  don't  know  what  else.    We  will  just  walk  through 

163 


1 64  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


the  different  floors  and  stop  at  what  strikes  our 
fancy.    Here  we  are." 

Passing  under  the  stairway,  they  found  them- 
selves in  the  big  Foyer. 

"  I  think  they  might  have  found  something 
prettier  to  put  in  this  room  than  those  old  black 
stones,"  said  Nora,  as  she  cast  a  quick  glance 
around  the  Foyer,  in  which  the  meteors  are  ex- 
hibited. 

"Did  you  ever  see  a  shooting-star?"  asked 
Doodle. 

"  Oh,  yes !  lots  of  them,"  the  children  replied ; 
"  but  what  has  that  got  to  do  with  these  old  stones 
and  rocks  ?  " 

"  A  very  great  deal,"  Doodle  responded,  "  all 
these  stones  and  rocks  that  you  see  here  were  once 
shooting-stars !  " 

The  children  looked  incredulous. 

"  Come,  let  us  find  a  quiet  seat,"  said  Doodle, 
"  and  I  will  tell  you  all  about  them. 

"  Our  earth  travels  around  the  sun  in  a  circle 
or  orbit, —  the  same  old  road  year  after  year ;  and, 
as  it  rolls  along,  sometimes  it  comes  into  contact 
with  other  bodies  that  are  also  travelling  around 
the  sun.  Sometimes  these  small  bodies,  or  pieces 
of  matter,  are  attracted  by  us  —  we  being  so  much 
larger  —  and  they  come  into  our  atmosphere  and 
fall  upon  us.  As  they  come  into  our  atmosphere, 
the  immense  speed  at  which  they  are  going  and 
the  heat  we  give  out  produces  incandescence,  and 
the  outside  of  the  meteor  becomes  liquid.  As  the 
shooting-star  dashes  along,  leaving  a  great  stream 
of  fire  behind  it  —  a  real  fiery  tail  —  naturally 
it  gets  smaller  as  its  head  burns  up,  and  it  some- 
times becomes  all  tail  and  falls  to  the  earth  in  a 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  165 


shower  of  dust;  or,  it  dashes  along  outside  of  our 
atmosphere  —  goodness  knows  where  in  the  starry 
skies  —  or  it  explodes  and  falls  to  earth  in  a  shower 
of  small  stones,  or  in  great  big  blocks  like  those  in 
the  Foyer/' 

"  Do  they  always  fall  in  the  same  place?  "  asked 
Jack. 

"  Oh,  dear  no !  Meteors  fall  anywhere :  chiefly 
in  the  ocean;  for  there  is  so  much  more  water  on 
our  globe  than  land,  you  know.  These,  of  course, 
we  never  hear  from;  and  many  others  fall  in  re- 
mote places,  and  we  never  hear  of  them,  either ; 
but  meteors  often  drop  upon  inhabited  places,  too. 
In  ancient  times  people  thought  the  stones  that  fell 
from  the  sky  were  sent  directly  from  the  gods,  and, 
therefore,  they  placed  them  in  temples  and  wor- 
shipped them.  The  image  of  the  Goddess  Diana 
at  Ephesus  was  probably  a  meteorite  because  it  was 
said  to  have  '  fallen  down  from  Jupiter.'  The 
idol  of  Venus  of  Cyprus  was  another  meteorite; 
and  people  think  that  the  great  black  rock  —  the 
Kaaba  —  that  the  Mohammedans  reverence  at 
Mecca,  was  originally  a  shooting-star. 

"  A  meteor  cares  very  little  where  it  falls.  It 
drops  with  the  greatest  indifference  into  the  sea, 
into  the  centre  of  a  field,  into  the  side  of  a  moun- 
tain, or  into  a  flowing  river.  One  might  fall  on 
top  of  this  building,  or  on  top  of  the  house  you  live 
in  at  any  moment.  Why,  only  a  few  days  ago 
(Aug.  13)  a  perfectly  round  meteor  weighing 
about  five  pounds,  dashed  out  of  the  sky  with  a 
sharp  hiss,  crashed  against  the  blind  of  a  house  in 
Montrose,  Mass.,  set  the  house  on  fire  and  fell  to 
the  ground,  where  it  was  found." 

"  Do  they  fall  often?  "  asked  Jack. 


1 66  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  People  say,"  Doodle  answered  "  that  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  millions  of  meteors  enter  the 
earth's  atmosphere  every  day;  but  very  few  reach 
the  earth." 

"  What  happens  to  them  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  They  are  simply  burned  up/'  Doodle  explained, 
"  All  we  see  is  a  trail  of  light  across  the  sky. 
There  are  now  seven  hundred  meteorites  known, 
and  these  are  in  museums  and  private  cabinets. 
Not  one  in  a  hundred  million  of  the  shooting-stars 
reaches  the  earth  in  a  recognisable  mass." 

"  Can  we  see  meteors  whenever  we  look  for 
them?"  Jack  inquired. 

"  You  can  see  shooting-stars  almost  every  even- 
ing," Doodle  answered,  "  but  there  are  great 
showers  of  them  in  August  and  November.  The 
November  meteors  are  often  called  Leonids  be- 
cause they  are  usually  seen  in  the  direction  of  the 
constellation  of  Leo,  the  lion;  some  people  think 
that  our  earth  goes  through  a  little  belt  of  meteors 
at  this  season." 

"  I  will  look  for  some  this  very  night,"  said  Jack. 

"  Now  you  understand,"  continued  Doodle, 
"  what  makes  these  black  stones  so  interesting  to 
us.  They  are  visitors  from  regions  beyond  our 
own  atmosphere  —  visitors  from  space  beyond  our 
world ;  and  it  is  also  interesting  to  know  that  these 
pieces  of  matter  are  composed  of  the  same  in- 
gredients as  our  own  rocks." 

"  What  are  they  made  of?  "  inquired  Nora,  open- 
ing her  eyes  very  wide. 

"  First,  iron  in  very  large  quantities ;  then  oxygen, 
silicon,  magnesium,  nickel,  sulphur,  calcium  and 
aluminum.  The  other  elements  found  in  meteor- 
ites are  carbon,  chlorine,  chormium,  cobalt,  copper, 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  167 


hydrogen,  manganese,  nitrogen,  phosphorus  po- 
tassium and  sodium.  Then,  too,  in  some  meteor- 
ites other  ingredients  are  found  that  do  not  exist 
on  our  earth.  Diamonds  are  found  in  them  some- 
times. Canyon  Diablo,  over  there,  contained  a 
diamond.  You  can  see  the  spot  from  which  it  was 
taken.  Run  over  and  look  at  it,  and  then  come 
back." 

The  children  did  so,  and  when  they  had  returned, 
Doodle  explained  to  them  that  there  are  three  kinds 
of  meteorites;  first  come  Siderites,  or  iron  meteor- 
ites composed  chiefly  of  iron;  then,  Siderolites, 
or  iron-stone  meteorites,  which  are  a  kind  of  nickel- 
iron  sponge,  full  of  stones;  and  lastly,  aerolites,  or 
stone  meteorites,  which  are  made  of  stones  with 
grains  of  nickel-iron  scattered  through  them. 

"  Now  let  us  go  and  look  at  those  black  masses 
that  once  were  dazzlingly  beautiful  shooting-stars," 
said  Doodle,  rising  and  leading  the  way  back  to  the 
Foyer.  "  This  one,  Ahnighto,  is  the  biggest  me- 
teorite in  the  world  —  that  is  to  say,  the  biggest 
one  we  know  of.  Explorers  who  went  to  Greenland 
used  to  be  much  surprised  to  see  the  Eskimos  with 
knives  and  other  weapons  made  of  iron,  because  it 
was  known  that  there  was  no  iron  in  Greenland; 
and  when  asked  where  they  got  it  the  Eskimos 
used  to  say  '  From  the  Great  Irons.'  For  hundreds, 
and,  perhaps,  for  thousands,  of  years  these  three  big 
meteors  lay  on  the  north  coast  of  Melville  Bay 
near  Cape  York,  and  the  first  white  man  to  see 
them  was  Commander  Peary  who  persuaded  an 
Eskimo,  named  Tallakoteah,  to  take  him  to  them 
in  1894.  This  big  one  was  known  as  The  Tent; 
this  one,  the  Woman,  because  the  Eskimos  thought 
it  looked  like  a  woman  squatting  on  the  ground 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


with  a  baby  in  her  arms ;  and  this  smaller  one,  was 
known  as  the  Dog. 

"  Of  course,  the  Eskimos  hadn't  the  slightest  idea 
that  these  wonderful  rocks  were  meteors :  all  they 
cared  about  them  was  to  go  and  chip  pieces  off 
them  for  their  knives  and  heads  of  their  harpoons. 
Well,  Peary  succeeded  in  bringing  the  Dog  and  the 
Woman  back  wTith  him  in  1895,  in  which  year  he 
also  saw  The  Tent,  which  was  four  miles  away 
from  the  others.  In  1897  he  brought  this  one 
home  in  the  ship  Hope  and  renamed  it  for  his 
daughter  Ahnighto. 

"  Ahnighto  (the  rock  and  not  the  daughter)  is 
IO  feet,  11  inches  long,  6  feet,  9  inches  high  and  5 
feet,  2  inches  thick  through.  All  three  contain  iron, 
nickel,  cobalt,  copper,  sulphur,  phosphorus  and  car- 
bon; and  because  they  are  composed  of  the  same  in- 
gredients and  were  found  so  close  together,  people 
think  they  were  all  parts  of  the  same  shooting-star." 

Passing  to  another  one,  Doodle  explained: 

"  This  great  stone,  known  as  Willamette,  is  the 
largest  iron  meteorite  ever  found  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  10  feet  long,  over  six  feet  high,  and 
wreighs  over  thirty-one  thousand  pounds.  In  1902 
two  men  were  looking  for  gold  and  silver  in  a 
forest  near  Portland,  Oregon,  and  they  came  across 
this  great  piece  of  iron.  The  extraordinary  thing 
about  Willamette  is  that  it  is  all  full  of  holes. 

"  A  meteor  is  usually  named  from  the  nearest 
town  to  which  it  falls.  This  one  called  Selma, 
for  instance,  fell  near  Selma,  Alabama,  in  1898; 
but  it  was  not  found  until  1906.  It  travelled  across 
the  sky  with  a  heavy,  rumbling  noise  with  a  fiery 
tail  of  ten  or  twelve  feet  long.  Selma  is  rare  be- 
cause it  is  one  single  stone. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM 


169 


"  This  one  fell  near  Long  Island,  Kansas,  and 
burst  into  thousands  of  pieces,  all  of  which  were 
found  near  each  other.  The  mass  probably  burst 
as  it  struck  the  ground.  Canyon  Diablo  (you  see 
there  are  two  pieces  of  it)  is  interesting  because 
it  contained  diamonds,  which  are  very  rare  in  the 
meteors  that  have  come  to  our  earth.  Canyon 
Diablo  was  found  in  1891  in  Arizona,  and  though 
thousands  of  pieces  have  been  found,  the  great  big 
mass  has  not  yet  been  discovered." 

"  What  is  this  one  with  a  big  hole  in  it?  "  asked 
Jack. 

"  This  is  a  reproduction  only.  The  real  meteor, 
known  as  Tucson,  is  in  the  National  Museum  in 
Washington.  I  remember  it  when  I  was  a  very 
small  child  and  used  to  go  to  Washington. 

"  The  only  two  we  haven't  looked  at,"  continued 
Doodle,  "  are  Forest  City  and  Brenham.  Bren- 
ham  was  found  in  Kansas  in  1886,  scattered  all 
about  a  prairie  where  stones  are  very  rare.  For 
many  years  people  did  not  know  that  these  rocks 
were  meteorites.  Forest  City  burst  over  a  town 
of  that  name  in  Iowa  in  1890.  At  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  a  brilliant  ball  of  fire  flew  across  the 
sky,  making  a  terrible  noise  like  thunder  and  a  dis- 
play of  flame  like  fireworks.  The  explosions 
were  heard  for  two  hundred  miles  and  more  than  a 
thousand  fragments  have  been  found." 

The  next  hall  they  visited  (No.  106)  was  the 
one  devoted  to  the  great  Jesup  collection  of  Trees 
of  North  America  —  the  most  complete  collection 
of  the  kind  in  any  museum.  The  children  were 
much  interested  in  looking  at  the  specimens  accom- 
panied with  the  reproductions  of  leaves  and  flowers 
and  the  water-colour  sketches;  but  Doodle  hurried 


170  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


them  along  to  the  Hall  of  Invertebrate  Zoology, 
also  called  Synoptic  Hall,  (No.  107),  pointing  out 
the  two  enormous  slices  of  trees  here  that  also  be- 
long to  the  Jesup  Collection.  One  of  these  is  a 
section  of  the  Sequoia,  or  Big  Tree,  which  is  nine 
feet  in  circumference.  The  tree  was  350  feet  high! 
The  other,  a  Douglas  Spruce,  has  five  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  rings. 

"  That  tree  was  569  years  old,"  said  Doodle, 
"  when  it  was  cut  clown.  It  started  growing  in 
1340  and  was  152  years  old  when  Columbus  dis- 
covered this  country !  " 

"  This  room,"  continued  Doodle,  "  contains 
specimens  of  the  lowest  and  highest  form  of  animal 
life  —  microscopical  animals,  beautiful  sponges, 
models  of  living  coral-forming  animals  and  all  sorts 
of  things,  some  of  which  have  been  alive  and  some 
of  which  are  only  enlarged  models.  This  Giant 
Spider  Crab,  for  example,  was  once  alive.  Now 
just  look  at  him !  He  measures  nearly  twelve  feet 
between  the  tips  of  his  out-stretched  claws.  He  is 
only  found  in  very  deep  waters.  This  example 
came  from  a  depth  of  two  thousand  feet,  off  the 
coast  of  Japan.  The  British  Museum  in  London 
has  a  big  one  that  is  highly  prized;  but  it  is  not 
as  big  as  this." 

"What  is  that  queer  thing?"  asked  Jack,  who 
had  been  intently  observing  the  model  of  a  Giant 
Squid  whose  enormous  tentacles  reach  nearly  across 
the  room.    "  Was  that  ever  alive?  " 

"  No,"  replied  Doodle,  "  that  is  an  enlarged 
model  of  the  Common  Squid  that  is  very  common 
on  the  Atlantic  coast,  particularly  near  Woods 
Hole,  Massachusetts,  where  it  is  very  destructive 
to  the  herring-fisheries." 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM 


"  Oh,  dear!  "  exclaimed  Nora,  "  I  think  I  never 
saw  such  a  horrid  thing  as  he  is." 

"  Not  even  the  Green  Moray  at  the  Aquarium  ?  " 
asked  Jack. 

"  No,  not  even  the  Green  Moray,"  answered 
Nora,  emphatically,  "  and,  goodness  knows,  he 
was  bad  enough  !  " 

"I  agree  with  you,"  said  Doodle.  "Shall  I 
point  out  some  of  his  charms?  " 

"  Oh  do !  "  cried  the  children,  "  tell  us  about  him, 
Doodle." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Doodle,  "  in  the  first  place, 
he  is  a  relative  of  the  Octopus  and  the  Cuttle-fish, 
and  is  one  of  the  big  Cephalopoda,  or  head-footed, 
family." 

"Head-footed!"  exclaimed  Nora. 

"Yes;  head-footed.  He  moves,  or  swims,  or 
walks,  or  whatever  you  like  to  call  it,  with  those 
arms,  or  feet,  or  tentacles  that  are  fastened  to  his 
head.  His  mouth  opens  in  the  middle  of  his  arms, 
or  tentacles,  and  is  furnished  with  a  strong,  horny 
beak,  like  a  parrot's,  specially  adapted  for  tearing 
flesh.  His  eyes  are  big  and  keen.  Eight  of  those  L 
ten  flexible  arms  are  studded  all  over  with  suckers 
for  grasping  his  prey.  The  other  two  arms  have 
suckers  only  on  the  two  club-shaped  ends.  His 
body  is  sprinkled  with  pale  pink  spots,  which,  when 
the  creature  is  excited,  become  a  deep  red." 

"Blushes?"  queried  Jack. 

"  How  silly  !  "  exclaimed  Nora.  "  Don't  inter- 
rupt Doodle.  I  want  to  know  some  more  about 
him." 

"  Another  queer  thing,"  continued  Doodle,  "  is 
that  he  has  inside  of  him  an  ink-bag!  " 

"An  ink-bag!"  exclaimed  Nora,  "real  ink?" 


172  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"A  black  fluid  anyway,"  said  Doodle.  "So 
when  he  wants  to  escape  from  either  an  enemy  or 
a  friend  (somebody  to  whom  he  owes  a  letter  or 
a  party  call),  he  simply  empties  his  bag  into  the 
water,  which  becomes  black,  of  course;  and  he 
rapidly  swims  away. 

"  But  this  isn't  the  only  queer  thing  about  Mr. 
Squid.  He  generally  swims  head  foremost,  and 
yet  he  can  reverse  his  engines  and  swim  backwards 
like  a  flash  of  lightning. 

"  Scientific  people  say  that 

"  *  The  mode  of  progression  is  unique  in  the  ani- 
mal kingdom.  The  body  proper  is  inclosed  on 
the  lower  side  in  a  mantle  cavity,  to  which  water 
is  freely  admitted.  At  the  entrance  to  this  cavity 
is  a  flexible  funnel,  or  siphon,  with  the  small  end 
pointing  outward  and  forward.  By  filling  the 
mantle  cavity  with  water  and  forcibly  ejecting  it 
through  this  funnel  the  animal  is  shot  backward 
like  a  sky-rocket  and  at  remarkable  speed.  When 
going  forward  the  mouth  of  the  funnel  is  bent  so 
as  to  shoot  the  stream  of  water  backward.' 

"  I  wish  we  had  time  to  look  at  all  these 
sponges,"  said  Doodle,  "  the  sponge  you  use  for 
bathing  is  only  one  kind,  you  know.  There  are 
many  varieties  scattered  all  over  the  world  in  the 
deep  seas.  They  are  all  sizes,  from  that  of  a  pin's 
head  to  that  of  a  big  man;  and  there  are  sponges 
of  all  shapes  —  domes,  fans,  trees,  cups,  goblets, 
cakes  and  lovely  vases  and  clusters  of  trumpet,  or 
tube-like,  forms ;  and  all  colours,  too, —  reds,  yel- 
lows, oranges,  blues,  greens,  lovely  whites  and  even 
shining  black;  but  the  loveliest  of  all  are  the  glass 
sponges  found  in  the  tropical  seas.  Look  at  this 
glass  rope  sponge,  for  instance;  and  this  beautiful 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  173 


thing,  called  Venus's  Flower  Basket.  Could  you 
imagine  anything  prettier  than  this?" 

"  What  is  a  sponge,  Doodle  ?  "  asked  Jack.  "  Is 
it  alive  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  a  sponge  is  one  single  animal,  or  a  colony 
of  animals.  It  is  always  attached  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea  and  cannot  move;  and  that  is  the  reason 
people  used  to  consider  it  a  plant.  Sponges  are 
very  low  in  the  scale  of  life. 

"  Corals  are  low,  too.  People  used  to  speak  of 
the  '  coral  insect '  that  built  up  the  coral  reefs  and 
islands;  but  it  is  a  real  animal, — a  Zoophyte. 
(We  saw  some  Zoophytes  in  the  Aquarium,  you 
remember,  don't  you?)  Coral  is  a  sort  of  chalky 
deposit  of  many  kinds  of  Zoophytes.  From  the 
original  polyp  little  buds  spring,  which,  in  their 
turn,  produce  buds  and  each  bud  deposits  its  chalky 
substance  upon  the  layers  of  former  generations. 
Sometimes  the  whole  mass  grows  in  the  shape  of  a 
cup;  or  it  branches  like  a  shrub;  or  spreads  out 
like  a  fan;  or  it  assumes  the  form  of  a  flower,  or  a 
mushroom. 

"  The  formation  of  coral  goes  on  with  wonder- 
ful rapidity,  at  the  rate  of  several  feet  in  a  few 
months;  and  presently  an  island  or  atoll  is  formed, 
or  a  long  reef  is  built  up  entirely  by  these  little 
creatures. 

"  In  these  cases  are  many  specimens  lovely  in 
colour  and  form ; —  but  come  here.  Now  what  do 
you  think  this  is  ?  "  and  Doodle  led  the  children  to 
a  series  of  glass  models  showing  the  mosquito  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave,  or  rather  to  the  period  of 
maturity  when  its  vicious  nature  is  fully  developed. 

The  children  were  appalled,  as  they  looked  at 
the  male  and  female  monsters. 


174  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Are  they  real  ones?  "  asked  Nora.  "  Do  mos- 
quitoes ever  grow  as  big  as  these?  " 

"  No,"  said  Doodle,  "  these  are  glass  mosquitoes, 
seventy-five  times  the  size  of  the  ordinary  beast. 
On  this  scale,  Mrs.  Mosquito  is  one  and  a  half 
feet  high,  three  feet  long,  the  spread  of  her  wings 
is  three  feet  and  the  mouth  part  —  that  awful  beak 
• —  is  a  foot  long !  They  say  Mr.  Mosquito  is  a 
harmless  gentleman;  but  I  wouldn't  trust  him,  and 
that  Mrs.  Mosquito  is  the  Grand  Inquisitor.  She 
takes  what  she  considers  a  comfortable  position  — 
say  on  your  little  hand  —  and  drives  that  terrible 
beak  into  your  tender  flesh,  pumps  up  the  blood  into 
her  own  gizzard  and  stomach;  and,  when  she  has 
had  all  she  wants,  she  very  kindly  leaves  some 
poison  in  place  of  the  blood  she  has  stolen." 

As  they  passed  on  to  the  North  Hall,  Doodle 
stopped  a  moment  to  explain  that  one  great  work 
of  this  Museum  is  the  study  of  the  native  races  of 
our  continent  and  their  relations  to  the  peoples  of 
the  Old  World.  "  Expeditions  have  been  and  are 
constantly  being  sent  out  to  study  various  tribes  of 
Indians  and  other  races  of  northwestern  America 
and  northeastern  Siberia,"  said  Doodle.  "  Of 
course,  these  men  who  go  exploring  naturally  study 
these  primitive  tribes ;  learn  their  language ;  see  how 
they  live;  and  bring  home  specimens  of  their 
houses,  their  costumes  and  all  the  things  they  make 
and  use  in  their  daily  living. 

"  We  could  spend  days  and  days  here,"  continued 
Doodle,  "  looking  at  all  these  relics  of  the  North 
American  Indians,  the  Siberian  tribes,  the  Mexicans, 
the  Peruvians  and  others.  There  is  one  room  de- 
voted entirely  to  the  North  American  Indians,  and 
in  this  hall  (No.  108)  we  find  a  big  collection  that 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  175 


represents  the  life  of  the  tribes  of  the  northwestern 
coast  of  America.  All  the  specimens  are  arranged 
so  as  to  show  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  people : 
their  baskets,  blankets,  bows  and  arrows,  spears  and 
fish-hooks,  articles  of  dress,  mats,  ornaments,  ca- 
noes, snow-shoes,  weapons,  musical-instruments, 
dolls,  carvings,  and  the  tall  totem-poles  bearing  the 
crests  and  other  symbolic  designs  of  the  family,  or 
clan." 

"  We  saw  a  totem-pole  in  the  Zoological  Park," 
interrupted  Jack. 

"  Masks,  too,  you  see  are  very  important," 
Doodle  went  on.  "  Now,  for  instance,  here  is  a 
full  set  of  ceremonial  masks,  illustrating  all  the  im- 
portant gods  of  the  tribe,  the  chief  of  which  is  the 
Sun." 

The  children,  however,  were  more  interested  in 
the  enormous  Haida  Canoe  made  by  the  Bella  Bella 
tribe,  that  live  opposite  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  in 
British  Columbia.  This  canoe  is  sixty-four  feet 
long  and  eight  feet  wide  and  was  hollowed  out  of 
a  single  tree,  fantastically  decorated  and  painted 
with  bright  colours. 

Of  all  the  various  figures  clad  in  native  costume 
and  represented  as  busy  at  their  occupations,  how- 
ever, the  groups  that  most  attracted  their  notice 
were  those  of  the  Eskimo  —  partly  because  they 
had  heard  so  much  lately  at  home  about  the  North 
Pole  and  the  Peary  Expedition,  so,  of  course,  Jack 
and  Nora  were  greatly  delighted  to  see  a  real  sledge 
that  Peary  had  used  in  the  Arctic  regions,  to  which 
eight  real  Eskimo  dogs  had  been  harnessed, —  a 
sledge  that  had  been  drawn  over  snow  and  ice  in 
the  dark  days  of  winter  and  under  the  rays  of  the 
midnight  sun.    They  also  took  a  vital  interest  in 


176  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


the  lurid  Arctic  pictures  painted  on  the  walls,  and 
in  the  life-sized  groups  of  men  and  women  in  the 
cases,  making  or  mending  harpoons,  harness,  or 
garments.  One  woman  fishing  through  a  hole  in 
the  ice  and  another  cooking  by  means  of  an  oil- 
lamp  struck  their  fancy  until  they  saw  the  more 
attractive  representation  of  an  Eskimo  scene  in  an- 
other case.  The  miniature  snow-hut,  the  tiny  sledge 
with  the  dogs  and  the  people  scattered  over  the 
snow  were  as  fascinating  as  a  doll's  house.  Then, 
of  course,  they  asked  Doodle  to  tell  them  something 
about  the  Eskimos.  Doodle,  therefore,  told  them 
that  the  Eskimos  are  a  race  of  people  that  dwell 
in  the  Arctic  regions;  that  they  are  a  kind  of  link 
between  the  Mongolians  and  the  Red  Indians  of 
North  America;  that  they  live  in  little  villages  on 
the  coast  consisting  of  not  more  than  six  or  seven 
families ;  that  the  men  spend  their  time  hunting 
and  fishing  and  the  women  in  preparing  their  cloth- 
ing and  the  cooking,  though  much  of  the  food  is 
eaten  raw,  while  they  drink  the  blood  of  newly  killed 
animals,  considering  it  a  delicacy;  that  in  summer 
they  live  in  tents  and  in  the  long  winters,  when  the 
days  are  as  dark  as  the  nights,  in  snow-huts, —  so, 
therefore, this  pretty  little  scene  before  them  is  a  win- 
ter one.  Then  Doodle  took  them  to  the  other  side 
of  the  room  to  show  them  the  carvings  made  by 
the  Eskimo  out  of  ivory  from  the  tusks  of  the 
walrus  and  other  creatures,  representing  objects  — 
people  and  animals  with  which  they  were  familiar 
—  dogs  in  various  attitudes ;  men  throwing  the  har- 
poon ;  and  little  animals, —  all  wonderfully  exe- 
cuted with  great  spirit  and  correct  action,  proving 
how  observant  is  the  eye  and  how  skilful  is  the 
hand  of  man  who  is  little  more  than  a  savage,  and 


Eskimo  woman  fishing  through  the  ice. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM 


177 


how  he  entertains  himself  with  making  artistic  ob- 
jects. 

"  Let  us  take  the  elevator  now,"  said  Doodle, 
"  and  go  to  the  Second  Floor." 

Entering  the  hall  of  the  North  American  Mam- 
mals (No.  206),  in  the  east  wing,  Doodle  told  them 
that  the  two  principal  exhibits  here  are  the  groups 
representing  the  Buffalo  and  the  Moose ;  but,  as 
they  had  seen  the  herd  of  live  Buffaloes  in  the 
Zoological  Park,  the  children  did  not  care  for  these. 
"  The  Moose  group,"  Doodle  explained,  "  is  prob- 
ably the  most  elaborate  of  its  kind  in  any  museum; 
for  no  less  than  twenty  thousand  artificial  leaves 
were  used  to  represent  the  autumnal  woods  of  New 
Brunswick. 

"  These  ridiculous  old  walruses,"  added  Doodle, 
as  they  walked  from  case  to  case,  "  were  found  on 
the  Peary  Relief  Expedition  of  1895.  However, 
we  have  seen  so  many  live  animals  and  birds  in  the 
Zoological  Park,  that  we  will  not  spend  any  time 
here  on  the  stuffed  ones,  but  just  take  a  hasty 
glance  at  some  of  the  groups  of  birds  so  naturally 
mounted  with  their  nests  and  eggs  and  little  ones. 

"  Almost  all  birds,  you  know,  make  a  nest  of 
some  kind  for  the  reception  of  their  eggs;  some 
nests  also  serve  as  cradles  for  the  little  birds  when 
they  are  hatched.  The  materials  of  the  nests,  as 
well  as  their  forms  and  general  manufacture,  vary 
greatly;  but  most  of  them  are  softly  lined.  Even 
those  birds,  like  the  parrots  and  woodpeckers,  that 
lay  their  eggs  in  the  holes  of  trees,  enlarge  the 
hole  by  means  of  their  bills;  and  the  chips  pro- 
duced by  this  performance  form  a  soft  layer  for 
the  inside.  Most  birds,  however,  collect  sticks, 
straws,  moss,  wool,  feathers,  hair  and  threads  of 


i78 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


silk  or  cotton,  and  lay  all  the  materials  among  the 
branches  of  the  tree,  or  on  the  surface  of  a  rock, 
and  then  interweave  these  articles  in  a  most  in- 
genious manner  to  form  a  more  or  less  cup-shaped 
nest,  lining  the  inside  with  the  softest  materials 
they  can  find.  The  bill  is,  in  fact,  a  needle,  with 
which  the  bird  really  sews  his  nest  together.  Some 
birds  build  their  nests  in  high  trees ;  others,  in 
trunks  of  trees;  others,  on  the  ground,  hidden 
among  the  grasses;  some  in  an  old  stump,  or  hollow 
tree ;  some  in  briery  bushes ;  some  in  sand-banks ; 
and  some  birds  take  another  bird's  old  abandoned 
nest  and  repair  it  to  suit  their  needs.  Look  at 
Bob  White  over  there  on  the  ground?  and  how  do 
you  like  the  Screech  Owl  who  has  just  made  this 
hole  in  the  hollow  tree?  I  like  these  black  ducks 
and  their  little  ones  — " 

"  Oh !  what  are  these  things  like  bottles  hanging 
from  the  tree?"  interrupted  Jack,  "  they  can't  be 
nests !    Yes  they  are,  for  here  are  the  birds !  " 

"  Oh,  what  pretty  birds !  "  exclaimed  Nora,  "  all 
black  and  yellow,  and  here  is  one  who  has  poked 
herself  down  into  the  bottle.  Oh!  how  funny! 
And  here  is  another,  hanging  upside  down  at  the 
bottom !  " 

"  This  bird,"  explained  Doodle,  "  is  a  tropical 
relative  of  the  Baltimore  Oriole, —  the  Crested 
Cassique,  who  makes  even  a  more  marvellous  nest 
than  the  Oriole  does.  He  is  very  social  and  likes 
to  live  in  a  colony.  'As  many  as  a  hundred  nests 
have  been  found  suspended  from  the  branches  of 
a  single  tree.  These  nests  and  birds  were  collected 
in  Trinidad,  for  the  Cassique  is  found  from 
Southern  Brazil  as  far  as  Panama." 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  179 


"  What  is  this  nest  made  of  ? "  Nora  inquired, 
observing  it  carefully. 

"  The  nest  is  made  of  various  vegetable  fibres 
strongly  interwoven  and  firmly  suspended  at  the 
top.  If  you  could  see  within,  you  would  find  it 
softly  lined  and  the  whole  thing  is  as  deftly  and 
strongly  made  as  if  by  a  needle.  The  entrance  is  at 
the  top.  This  one  shows  a  bird  peeping  out.  An 
old  lady  who  saw  these  nests  said  she  thought  a 
bird  that  could  make  such  a  nest  could  be  taught 
to  darn  stockings, —  what  do  you  think?" 

"  The  bird  might  be  taught  to  darn  stockings ; 
but  I  don't  believe  the  old  lady  could  be  taught  to 
make  a  nest  like  that,"  laughed  Nora. 

"  I  don't  think  she  could  either,"  replied  Doodle, 
adding,  "  we  had  better  stop  to  look  at  the  Great 
Auk,  which  became  extinct  about  sixty  years  ago ; 
also  the  Labrador  Duck,  one  of  the  features  of  the 
collection;  and  now  we  come  to  a  bird  that  I  think 
even  more  interesting, —  a  bird  that  changes  his 
clothes  with  the  seasons  —  the  Ptarmigan." 

"  Where  does  he  live?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  In  the  Arctic  regions,"  said  Doodle,  "  in  Nor- 
way and  Scotland  and  on  this  side  of  the  water, 
too,  in  the  low  valleys  and  plains  and  on  sea-shore. 
The  great  idea  of  the  Ptarmigan  is  to  escape  obser- 
vation, whether  among  the  grasses  and  the  lichen- 
covered  rocks  of  summer,  or  among  the  snows  of 
winter.  He  doesn't  wait  for  the  latest  styles  from 
Paris,  or  London,  or  New  York ;  but  he  puts  on  his 
grey  Easter  clothes  marked  with  black  bars;  and, 
after  a  few  months,  his  summer  tweeds  that 
match  the  landscape;  then,  he  dons  his  autumn 
finery;  and,  last  of  all,  wraps  himself  in  his  lovely 


i8o  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


snow-white  mantle  for  the  winter.  See,  here  he  is, 
represented  in  his  four  handsome  costumes." 

As  they  now  walked  on  the  skeleton  of  a  large 
elephant  struck  Doodle,  who  stopped  a  moment, 
quite  forgetting  the  presence  of  Nora  and  Jack, 
looking  upon  it  with  a  retrospective  eye,  and  ex- 
claiming: "  Well!  I  do  declare!    Here  is  Jumbo!  " 

Neither  Jack  nor  Nora  were  much  impressed; 
but,  seeing  that  their  companion  regarded  it  so 
attentively,  looked  again  at  the  great  white  frame- 
work and  tried  their  best  to  see  what  the  attraction 
really  was,  but  with  no  results. 

At  last  Jack  broke  the  silence  :  "  What  is  Jumbo  ?  " 

For  a  minute  Doodle  looked  astonished,  and  then 
explained :  "  Why,  Jumbo  was  a  great,  big  elephant 
that  was  captured  in  Africa  —  perhaps  the  biggest 
elephant  that  ever  was  captured,  and  he  was  taken 
to  London  and  exhibited  in  the  Zoological  Gar- 
dens. Then  he  was  brought  to  this  country  by 
Barnum,  who  took  Jumbo,  I  suppose,  to  every  big 
city  and  many  little  towns  in  the  United  States; 
and  when  I  was  a  little  boy  — " 

"  You  a  little  boy,"  laughed  Jack. 

"  Well,  then,  when  I  was  a  little  girl  — " 

"  You  a  little  girl,"  laughed  Nora. 

"Well  then  when  I  was  neither,  or  both," 
laughed  Doodle,  "  everybody  knew  about  Barnum's 
Circus  and  Jumbo.  Everybody  went  to  see 
Jumbo!  His  name  was  used  to  describe  anything 
that  was  extraordinarily  large  and  he  was  the  sen- 
sation of  the  times.  He  was  not  a  performing 
elephant:  all  he  did  was  to  march  in  the  proces- 
sions of  the  circus  through  the  streets  and  around 
the  ring  in  the  Circus  tent.  One  peculiarity  of  his 
was  very  long  fore-legs  and  very  short  hind  legs  — 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  181 

he  looked  something  like  little  Congo  in  the  Zo- 
ological Park,  only  very,  very  large.  Now  I'll  tell 
you  something  very  strange.  /  have  ridden  on 
Jumbo's  back!  Poor  old  Jumbo!  He  was  killed 
in  a  railway  accident  and  here  are  his  poor  old 
bones ! " 

Jack  and  Nora  now  regarded  the  remains  of  the 
great  Circus  celebrity  with  feelings  of  awe  and 
were  somewhat  elated  to  be  with  one  who  had 
known  Jumbo  in  his  better  days.  Doodle,  however, 
moved  on,  remarking: 

"  Whenever  the  animals  in  the  Park  Menagerie, 
or  the  Zoological  Park,  die,  they  are  sent  to  the 
Natural  History  Museum  to  be  mounted.  In  this 
case  lies  Sultan,  the  lion  that  Mr.  Carnegie  gave  to 
the  latter ;  and  somewhere  in  this  collection  we  shall 
find  an  ostrich  that  died  about  ten  years  ago.  No- 
body could  imagine  what  killed  him,  for  he  had 
been  in  the  very  best  of  health.  He  was  sent  here 
to  be  stuffed;  but  the  people  that  ripped  him  up 
found  that  he  had  died  of  too  much  stuffing! 
Ostriches  know  that  they  can  eat  everything  and 
anything ;  but  this  bird  overdid  it ;  for  they  found 
in  his  stomach  two  small  metal  purses,  one  tooth- 
brush, two  combs,  three  leather  pocket-books,  thir- 
teen nails,  six  screws,  some  hairpins,  four  large 
needles,  five  half  burnt  cigars,  some  matches,  a  piece 
of  wood,  a  piece  of  cloth,  two  kid  gloves  and  three 
handkerchiefs.,, 

Jack  and  Nora  laughed  heartily  as  they  wandered 
along  until  they  reached  a  case  of  brilliant  birds, 
specially  lighted  with  electricity,  so  that  the  mar- 
vellous colours  and  iridescent  gleaming  of  the 
feathers  can  be  fully  appreciated  by  the  visitors. 
Doodle  told  the  children  that  these  rare  Birds  of 


i82  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


Paradise  are  confined  to  a  very  small  portion  of  the 
earth's  surface.  They  live  only  in  New  Guinea  and 
the  neighbouring  islands ;  but  in  great  numbers,  and 
make  a  magnificent  appearance  as  they  flit  about 
from  tree  to  tree.  "  Beautiful  yellow  plumes  spring 
from  the  sides  of  the  body  beneath  the  wings,  you 
see,"  said  Doodle,  "  and  are  decomposed,  that  is  to 
say,  all  the  barbs  of  the  feathers  are  separate  from 
each  other,  while  the  two  centre  filaments  of  the 
tail  are  carried  out,  as  you  see,  into  two  long 
threads  or  filaments.  See  what  beautiful  plumage 
these  birds  have;  what  velvet-like  softness;  what 
beautiful  lines!  In  different  lights,  you  notice,  they 
throw  off  different  colours,  emerald  green,  reddish- 
brown,  bronzed  green  and  violet,  golden  tints, 
copper  lustre,  cinnamon-red,  chestnut-brown,  and 
splendid  blues.  Many  strange  stories  are  told  of 
these  birds,  too.  The  Emerald  Bird  of  Paradise, 
for  instance,  was  thought  to  have  no  feet,  because 
the  natives  used  to  cut  its  legs  off  before  they 
sold  it.  People  used  to  imagine  that  the  Bird 
of  Paradise,  therefore,  had  to  pass  its  whole  life  on 
the  wing,  because  it  could  never  perch;  others 
thought  it  hung  itself  downward  by  those  long  tail 
filaments  from  the  branch  of  a  tree. 

"  Oh ;  stop  a  minute,"  cried  Doodle,  as  they  were 
walking  down  a  long  corridor  and  about  to  pass  by 
a  pretty  case  containing  what  appeared  to  be  merely 
the  branch  of  a  tree  and  a  cluster  of  pink  orchids. 
— "  What  a  pretty  group  this  is !  The  tree  is  the 
nutmeg;  the  orchid,  the  lovely  Phalcunopsis  sclnl- 
leriana  of  Indo-Malaysia ;  the  climbing  creeper,  a 
sort  of  grape  vine;  and,  why,  I  declare,  here  is  a 
Butterfly  —  the  Leptocircus  curius ;  and  look !  there 
are  several  beetles!    What  I  want  you  specially  to 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM 


183 


look  at,  however,  is  the  little  Flying  Dragon,  or 
Flying  Lizard,  captured  in  the  island  of  Nias,  off 
Sumatra.  You  see  he  is  a  regular  little  air-ship, — 
swift,  fantastic  and  graceful.  His  sides  act  just 
like  aeroplanes,  as  the  animal  jumps  or  floats  from 
tree  to  tree  in  search  of  the  insects  on  which  he 
feeds.  His  ribs  are  something  like  the  ribs  of  an 
umbrella  and  his  wings  are  supported  on  these. 
When  the  Flying  Dragon  wishes  to  put  them  in 
action,  his  muscles  bring  the  ribs  forward  and  un- 
furl the  wings  which  uphold  the  dragon  in  the  air 
as  he  proceeds  from  tree  to  tree,  or  wherever  he 
wants  to  go.  He  doesn't  seem  to  move  like  the 
bird,  or  bat,  by  beating  the  air  with  a  succession  of 
strokes,  so  we  may  consider  his  wings  a  kind  of 
natural  parachute  which  he  can  expand  at  will. 
When  he  doesn't  want  to  fly,  he  folds  up  those  ribs, 
just  like  a  fan,  against  his  little  body.  The  three 
little  pointed  appendages  on  the  throat  of  the 
male  are  orange ;  on  the  female,  they  are  blue. 
The  metallic  sheen  and  the  prettily  marked  wings 
of  the  little  animal  help  conceal  him  from  his  ene- 
mies and  also  from  the  insects  he  wants  to  prey 
upon.  This  little  Flying  Dragon  is  the  last  of  a 
great  race.  He  is  a  descendant  of  the  great 
Saurians  that  we  shall  see  presently.  Now  we  must 
go  up-stairs." 

When  they  reached  the  Third  Floor,  the  chief 
thing  that  attracted  the  children's  attention  was  the 
life-sized  model  of  the  big  whale  in  the  East  Mam- 
mal Hall  (No.  306)  of  the  gallery  floor.  This 
monster,  made  of  papier-mache,  upon  a  wire  shell, 
built  over  an  iron  frame,  is  seventy  feet  long,  and 
appears  as  if  swimming. 

Doodle  explained  that  this  specimen  is  a  represen- 


1 84  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


tation  of  the  Atlantic  Sulphur  Bottom  Whale,  the 
largest  of  all  living  marine  animals,  sometimes  at- 
taining a  weight  of  one  hundred  and  forty-seven 
tons;  that  he  gets  his  name  from  the  colour  of  his 
under  side;  and  that  he  is  found  in  both  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  oceans,  though  he  is  growing  very 
rare. 

"  But  if  you  want  to  see  a  real  whale,  or  rather 
the  skeleton  of  one/'  continued  Doodle,  "  come  this 
way." 

So  saying,  they  walked  into  the  North  Hall 
(No.  308),  where,  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  they 
beheld  the  complete  skeleton  of  a  Fin-back  Whale, 
or  Rorqual,  that  was  captured  off  Provincetown, 
Mass.,  in  1896. 

"  When  alive,"  said  Doodle,  "  this  creature 
measures  about  sixty-three  feet.  The  Fin-back 
is  hunted  all  along  our  coasts  from  North  Carolina 
to  Newfoundland  and  now  he  is  killed  with  har- 
poons that  explode  when  they  strike  him." 

In  the  Third  Floor  they  saw  many  birds  and  an- 
imals of  North  America  and  the  stuffed  figures  of 
the  monkey  celebrities  —  Mr.  Crowley,  Kitty 
Banana  and  Chico.  They  were  greatly  interested 
in  the  beautiful  butterflies  and  moths  that  have 
been  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  world, —  from 
Mexico,  Central  and  South  America,  India,  the 
Malay  Islands,  Australia,  Japan,  Africa,  Europe 
and  North  America. 

Among  the  rarer  specimens  that  attracted  their 
notice  were  the  brilliant  blue  morphos;  the  papilio- 
homerus  from  Jamaica ;  the  Dynastor  Napoleon 
from  Rio  Janeiro;  the  owl-faced  butterflies;  the 
swallowtails;  the  milk-weed  and  glass-winged  but- 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  185 


terflies;  and  the  citron,  orange,  lemon  and  white 
butterflies. 

In  the  department  devoted  to  Entomology 
(No.  307),  they  greatly  enjoyed  the  beetles,  and 
were  surprised  to  see  that  many  of  them  were  en- 
cased in  gorgeous  suits  of  armour  that  shone  with 
hues  of  green  and  blue  and  bronze. 

The  bees  also  fascinated  them  and  also  the  great 
nests  of  Termites,  those  terrible  tropical  ants. 
"  Thousands  of  ants  live  in  a  colony,  which  consists 
of  a  queen,  males,  workers,  and  soldiers,"  Doodle 
told  them,  adding,  "  and,  strange  to  say,  the  workers 
and  soldiers  have  no  eyes !  " 

One  of  these  nests,  three  feet  high  and  twenty- 
two  inches  in  diameter  (nearly  two  yards  around) 
was  found  in  one  of  the  Bahama  Islands  on  an  old 
stump  in  the  middle  of  a  pineapple  plantation. 

They  passed  rapidly  through  the  department  de- 
voted to  the  ethnology  and  archaeology  of  South 
America,  and  Doodle  explained  the  great  value  of 
the  Peruvian  collection  and  promised  to  tell  the 
children  more  about  the  Incas  on  the  next  rainy  day. 
Here  they  were  struck,  as  so  many  others  have  been, 
with  the  peculiar  mummified  body,  popularly  known 
as  the  "  Copper  Lady,"  that  was  found  in  a  copper 
mine  in  Chili,  showing  that  the  miner,  probably  a 
woman,  was  caught  by  a  cave-in  of  the  roof,  and 
partly  crushed. 

"  We  cannot  stop  here  any  longer,"  said  Doodle, 
"  for  the  next  floor  is  one  of  the  best  of  all. 

"  Indeed,"  added  Doodle,  as  the  elevator  stopped 
to  let  them  off,  "  Dinosaur  Hall  is  to  many  people 
the  most  interesting  in  the  Museum.  It  contains 
skeletons  of  extinct  monsters,  many  of  which  lived 


1 86  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


long  before  the  appearance  of  man  upon  the  earth. 
Here  we  see  the  hind  legs  of  the  largest  beast  of 
prey  that  ever  existed  —  the  Tyrannosaurus  —  and 
a  skull  of  a  still  larger,  but  inoffensive  animal  — 
the  Triceratops,  or  Horned  Dinosaur.  This  skull 
was  discovered  last  year  (1909)  in  Montana  and  it 
is  hoped  that  the  rest  of  the  remains  will  soon  be 
found.  It  is  the  largest  skull  of  any  land  animal, 
known  to  science,  being  about  seven  feet  long  and 
weighing  nearly  eight  hundred  pounds." 

"  What  does  Dinosaur  mean?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  The  word  Dinosaur,"  replied  Doodle,  "  means 
*  terrible  lizard,'  and  it  is  applied  to  a  large  family 
of  animals,  some  of  which  lived  entirely  on  land, 
and  others  in  the  water  as  well.  They  are  classed 
as  reptiles,  and  many  of  them  have  a  general  re- 
semblance to  crocodiles,  while  the  bones  of  others 
resemble  those  of  an  ostrich.  Their  remains  are 
found  on  every  continent,  and  they  dominated  the 
animal  kingdom  throughout  the  Mesozoic  period 
before  the  appearance  of  man.  Their  bones  show 
a  great  variety  of  forms  or  types.  They  were  all 
quadrupeds  and  often  the  hind  legs  were  much 
longer  than  the  front  ones.  They  varied  greatly 
both  in  size  and  appearance ;  some  were  bigger  than 
any  modern  elephant  and  others  were  only  two  feet 
long.  Some  lived  on  flesh,  and  others  only  on 
vegetable  growth.  The  former  are  known  as 
Carnivora  and  the  latter  as  Herbivora. 

"  It  is  possible  to  distinguish  between  the  Carniv- 
ora and  Herbivora  by  the  character  of  the  teeth. 
Carnivores  have  large  sharp  teeth  for  cutting  and 
chewing,  but  never  for  grinding.  The  structure 
and  habits  of  an  extinct  animal  can  also  be  gathered 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  187 


by  experts  from  an  examination  of  the  bones  of  the 
legs  and  the  back  called  the  vertebrae. 

"  Professor  Owen,  a  great  authority,  said : 

"  '  If  I  were  restricted  to  a  single  specimen  on 
which  to  deduce  the  nature  of  an  extinct  animal, 
I  should  choose  a  vertebra  to  work  out  a  reptile 
and  a  tooth  in  the  case  of  a  mammal.' 

"  By  measuring  the  brain  cavities  in  the  skulls 
also,  students  are  able  to  form  a  very  good  idea  of 
the  nature  and  capacity  of  the  brains  and  general 
intelligence  of  the  animal. 

"  It  has  been  found  out  that  the  brain  develop- 
ment of  these  gigantic  animals  was  small,  and  it  is 
therefore  supposed  that  they  had  very  little  sense. 

"  Here  is  another  enormous  creature,"  said 
Doodle  leading  the  way  to  the  Brontosaurus. 
"  This  peculiar  thing  was  one  of  the  largest  of  the 
amphibious  Dinosaurs  that  lived  in  the  Age  of 
Reptiles, —  at  least  eight  million  years  ago.  It  was 
the  largest  kind  of  animal  that  ever  lived,  except 
some  kinds  of  whales,  and  no  bigger  animal  ever 
walked  on  four  legs.  The  Brontosaurus  spent  its 
life  in  shallow  water,  partly  immersed  and  occa- 
sionally swimming,  at  which  exercise  its  long  tail 
was  a  great  aid.  The  length  of  its  neck  enabled 
it  to  reach  its  food  from  the  bottom  and  from  trees 
growing  out  of  the  water.  Its  food  was  principally 
aquatic  plants.  Its  very  small  brain  and  slender 
spinal  cord  show  that  it  was  a  stupid  reptile,  of 
slow  movement.  Its  feet  left  tracks  in  the  mud 
measuring  a  square  yard.  Its  bones  are  often 
found  in  places  where  it  evidently  had  become  mired 
as  cattle  do  to-day  in  swamps  and  on  river  and  lake 
margins.    Its  swimming  and  wading  habits  enabled 


1 88  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


it  to  keep  somewhat  out  of  reach  of  the  Carniv- 
orous Dinosaurs,  that  were  its  principal  enemies. 

"  This  gigantic  skeleton  w7as  discovered  in 
Wyoming  in  1898  and  it  took  seven  years  to  col- 
lect, remove  and  mount  the  fragments!  Its  length 
is  sixty-six  feet,  eight  inches;  height  fifteen  feet, 
two  inches;  and  weight  about  forty  tons.  Its 
thigh  bone  alone  weighs  five  hundred  and  seventy 
pounds. 

"  The  chief  enemy  of  the  Brontosaurus,"  con- 
tinued Doodle,  "  was  the  huge  Allosaurus,  which, 
though  smaller  than  its  victim,  had  a  great  advan- 
tage in  teeth  and  claws.  Look  at  this  dramatic 
group  —  a  skeleton  of  an  Allosaurus  standing  over 
that  of  a  Brontosaurus  in  the  act  of  feeding  upon 
it. 

"  The  remains  of  the  two  monsters  were  dis- 
covered within  a  few  miles  of  each  other;  and  the 
tooth  marks  of  the  one  are  visible  on  the  bones  of 
its  victim.  In  the  restoration,  the  forefeet,  which 
these  animals  used  only  when  fighting  or  tearing 
their  prey  and  not  for  support,  have  been  given 
characteristic  attitudes. 

"  The  Allosaurus  raises  its  head  and  paw  threat- 
eningly as  if  to  keep  off  an  intruder  who  wants  to 
share  the  feast.  It  stands  eight  feet,  three  inches 
high,  and  is  thirty-four  feet,  two  inches  long." 

Next  they  went  to  look  at  another  interesting 
group, —  that  of  two  Trachodons,  mounted  so  that 
each  represents  a  characteristic  attitude  of  the  ani- 
mal when  it  was  alive.  The  accessories  consist 
of  fossil  plants  belonging  to  the  same  period  and 
suggesting  the  natural  surroundings  and  food  of 
the  animals.  Mr.  Barnum  Brown,  who  has  dis- 
covered so  many  Dinosaurs  in  the  West,  tells  us  that 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  189 

this  group  is  intended  to  take  us  back  in  imagination 
to  the  Cretaceous  period,  more  than  three  million 
years  ago,  when  Trachodons  were  among  the  most 
numerous  of  the  Dinosaurs.  Two  members  of  the 
family,  you  see,  are  represented  here  as  feeding  in 
the  marshes  that  characterised  the  period,  when  one 
is  startled  by  the  approach  of  a  carnivorous  Dino- 
saur, Tyrannosaurus,  their  enemy,  and  rises  on 
tiptoe  to  look  over  the  surrounding  plants  and  de- 
termine the  direction  from  which  it  is  coming.  The 
other  Trachodon,  unaware  of  danger,  continues 
peacefully  to  crop  the  foliage.  Perhaps  the  erect 
member  of  the  group  had  already  had  unpleasant 
experiences  with  hostile  beasts,  for  a  bone  of  its 
left  hind  foot  bears  three  sharp  gashes  which  were 
made  by  the  teeth  of  some  carnivorous  Dinosaur. 

"  Now,  perhaps,"  said  Doodle  after  a  pause,  for 
the  children's  imagination,  like  Doodle's  own,  was 
touched,  "  perhaps  we  can  believe  in  the  dragons  of 
the  Fairy  Tales  and  old  ballads, —  what  do  you 
think?" 

"  What  kind  of  a  place  was  the  earth,  Doodle," 
asked  Jack,  "  when  these  queer  creatures  lived  on 
it?" 

"  If  we  could  turn  back  the  pages  of  the  great 
Earth  Book,"  Doodle  replied,  "  and  see  our  globe 
as  it  was  before  the  days  of  man,  when  the  great 
long-necked  crocodilian  reptiles  that  we  see  here, 
were  the  chief  inhabitants,  we  may  picture  a  muddy, 
spongy,  oozy  land  watered  by  great  rivers  and 
largely  overspread  by  a  vast  expanse  of  lakes,  on 
whose  dreary,  slimy  banks  gigantic  reptiles  reposed 
amid  enormous  extinct  bog-plants  or  floated  like 
logs  in  the  fenny  sunshine,  or  cool  mists,  while  the 
silence  of  the  desolate  scene  was  broken  by  the  noise 


190  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


of  their  monstrous  jaws  clamping  together  on  some 
unfortunate  fish,  and  by  the  rumblings  and  ex- 
plosions of  the  distant  volcanoes. 

"  Fearfully  great  lizards  were  these  creatures  that 
lived  in  the  water  and  on  the  land  and  finally  got 
buried  in  the  mud. 

"  After  the  Age  of  Reptiles  the  Mammals  came 
upon  the  scene.  They  were  huge  creatures,  too. 
Come  here  now  and  let  us  look  at  these  two  magnif- 
icent specimens  of  early  representatives  of  the  ele- 
phant family, —  a  Mammoth  and  a  Mastodon. 
The  Mammoth  lived  on  the  earth  side  by  side  with 
man,  by  whom  it  was  hunted  and  probably  finally 
exterminated.  In  North  America  there  were  three 
species  during  the  Glacial  Period.  The  Siberian 
Mammoth  which  is  found  in  the  ice  in  Alaska;  the 
Columbian  Mammoth  which  inhabited  the  greater 
part  of  the  United  States;  and  the  Imperial  Mam- 
moth that  ranged  over  the  Southern  States.  The 
Imperial  Mammoth  before  us  was  found  in  a 
swamp  in  Indiana  eight  feet  below  the  surface.  The 
tusks  measure  eleven  and  one-half  feet;  the  length 
of  the  body  is  thirteen  feet,  three  and  one-half  inches 
and  the  height  of  the  body  at  the  shoulders  ten  feet, 
six  inches." 

"  Did  the  Mastodon  ever  live  in  North  America  ?  " 
asked  Jack. 

"  Oh,  yes !  The  Mastodon  inhabited  North 
America  at  the  same  time  as  the  Mammoth.  The 
Warren  Mastodon  is  the  most  complete  skeleton  of 
this  animal  that  has  yet  been  found.  It  was  dis- 
covered near  Newburgh,  New  York,  in  1845.  It 
measures  nearly  fifteen  feet  in  length  and  nine  feet 
in  height ;  and  the  great  curved  tusks  are  eight  and 
a  half  feet  long." 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM  191 


Doodle  also  showed  them  the  remarkable  skele- 
tons of  the  Amblypoda  and  the  tremendous  Dinoc- 
eras,  which  had  a  frame  as  big  as  an  elephant, 
which  it  somewhat  resembled.  It  had  big  tusks 
and  massive  legs,  with  only  four  toes  on  each  foot, 
and  a  short  and  slender  tail.  The  head  was  pro- 
vided with  six  horns,  which  must  have  given  the 
beast  a  hideous  and  terrifying  appearance. 

"  The  South  American  armadillos  of  the  present 
day  that  you  saw  in  the  Zoological  Park,"  Doodle 
continued,  "  are  puny  representatives  of  their  an- 
cestors of  the  Post  Pliocene  period,  which  are  called 
Glyptodons.  The  armadillo  rarely  measures  more 
than  three  feet  in  length,  whereas  the  Glyptodon 
averages  nine  feet.  See  this  fine  example  of  one 
of  these  gigantic  tortoise-armadillos  from  Argen- 
tina. And  come  and  look  at  this  one  too,  another 
extinct  animal,  the  Toxodon,  from  South  America. 
It  was  about  the  size  of  a  hippopotamus." 

Doodle  next  showed  them  the  very  complete  and 
fine  exhibition  representing  the  evolution  of  the 
horse  under  domestication, —  the  three-toed  desert 
horse  and  also  the  skeleton  of  the  race  horse, 
Sysonby. 

The  children,  like  everybody  else  who  visits  this 
Museum,  were  greatly  interested  in  the  skeleton  of 
the  Irish  Elk.  Unlike  the  great  majority  of  ex- 
tinct animals  which  are  entirely  lacking  in  beauty, 
this  is  noble  and  imposing.  In  life  it  was  the  big- 
gest and  most  beautiful  member  of  the  deer  family. 
Its  grace  and  majesty  are  finely  reproduced  in  the 
picture  on  the  base  that  shows  it  with  the  Lakes  of 
Killarney  in  the  background.  Though  called  by 
the  name  of  the  Irish  Elk,  Ireland  was  not  its 
only  home,  however,  for  its  remains  are  also  found 


192  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


in  Scotland,  England  and  on  the  continent  of 
Europe. 

When  the  Irish  Elk  lived,  Doodle  told  them,  the 
land  was  covered  with  forests  in  which  it  found 
plenty  of  its  favourite  food, —  leaves,  and  shoots, 
adding:  "The  spread  of  its  splendid  antlers  is 
enormous,  in  this  instance,  measuring  ten  feet  from 
tip  to  tip.  It  must  have  had  difficulty  in  threading 
the  mazes  of  the  forest  when  pursued  by  its  enemies. 
The  antlers  are  very  heavy  (eighty  pounds)  for 
such  a  small  head;  and  so  the  neck  is  unusually 
short  to  assist  in  bearing  the  weight,  and  the  bones 
are  bigger  and  stronger  than  those  of  other  deer. 

"  In  the  days  of  the  Irish  Elk,  the  climate  must 
have  been  almost  tropical,  for  its  remains  are  found 
in  company  with  those  of  the  mammoth  hippopot- 
amus and  rhinoceros  in  the  caves  of  the  great  flesh- 
eating  hyenas  and  bears." 

They  then  looked  at  the  skeletons  of  the  Hyaeno- 
don  and  pictures  that  show  the  animals  of  the  period 
in  their  natural  surroundings. 

Turning  to  the  west,  they  entered  the  Mineral 
Room;  and,  looking  quickly  at  the  cases  of  crystals 
and  minerals,  they  particularly  noted  some  speci- 
mens of  crystallised  gold  from  California, —  per- 
fect little  octahedral  (eight-sided)  crystals  of  pure 
gold  held  in  the  midst  of  a  cluster  of  clear  prismatic 
crystals  of  quartz.  Some  experts,  indeed,  consider 
this  the  most  beautiful  specimen  of  the  kind  so  far 
known. 

Next  Doodle  pointed  out  a  natural-sized  model 
of  the  great  Cullinan  Diamond,  sent  as  a  pres- 
ent to  the  Museum  by  the  Premier  Transvaal  Dia- 
mond Mining  Company  of  Johannesburg,  where 
the  diamond,  the  biggest  in  the  world,  was  found. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  MUSEUM 


193 


This  great  diamond,  which  was  sent  as  a  present  to 
King  Edward,  weighs  one  pound,  six  ounces,  and  is 
perfect  in  colour  and  lustre. 

Next  they  peeped  into  the  Mexican  archaeology 
(Room  402)  where  all  the  marvellous  stone  carv- 
ings and  other  relics  are  so  well  displayed;  but  the 
afternoon  was  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close,  and  so 
Doodle  led  them  back  to  the  Elevator. 

There  was  only  one  collection  in  the  Fifth  floor  to 
attract  them,  for  they  did  not  care  to  visit  the 
Library, —  and  this  was  so  very  fascinating  that  it 
seemed  a  pity  it  had  been  left  to  the  very  last.  The 
children  were  charmed  with  the  vast  number  of 
pretty  shells  here,  large  and  small,  from  all  parts 
of  the  world.  Particularly  famous  is  the  Storer 
Collection,  consisting  of  about  3,500  specimens, 
chiefly  obtained  from  sailors  and  sea-captains  in 
old  days  when  handsome  shells  were  more  common 
than  they  are  now.  The  great  variety  of  shells 
of  all  shapes,  sizes  and  colours ;  spotted  and  striped 
and  covered  with  spines,  surprised  and  fascinated 
these  children,  who  seemed  to  have  a  fancy  for 
everything  that  comes  from  the  sea,  and  they  were 
quite  unwilling  to  leave  until  Doodle  promised  to 
bring  them  here  another  day  and  tell  them  some- 
thing about  these  wonders  of  the  ocean. 


CHAPTER  IX 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  METROPOLITAN 
MUSEUM 

IN  WHICH  THE  CHILDREN  SEE  SOME  WONDERFUL 
WORKS  OF  MAN'S  HAND;  LEARN  OF  ANCIENT 
COUNTRIES  AND  THEIR  ARTS;  AND  BECOME  AC- 
QUAINTED WITH  SOME  MASTERPIECES  OF  ARCHI- 
TECTURE, SCULPTURE  AND  PAINTING. 

"  We  have  seen  so  many  wonderful  works  of 
Nature,  now  we  are  going  to  look  at  the  works  of 
man's  hand,"  said  Doodle,  as  the  three  were  flying 
up  Fifth  Avenue  in  the  stage  to  the  Metropolitan 
Museum.  "  You  know  that  through  all  the  ages 
and  in  all  countries  people  have  first  made  them- 
selves comfortable  with  regard  to  their  homes, 
furniture  and  clothing;  and  then,  as  soon  as  they 
are  comfortable,  they  begin  to  want  luxurious  and 
beautiful  things  to  use,  to  look  at  and  to  wear. 

"  Man  has  a  great  desire  to  have  beautiful  things 
around  him,  and  he  also  has  a  great  desire  to 
make  beautiful  things.  In  all  ages,  therefore,  and 
in  all  countries,  this  need  has  been  expressed. 

"  The  object  of  a  museum  is,  therefore,  to 
gather  together  and  preserve  beautiful  and  interest- 
ing things  that  man  has  done  in  the  past  and  that 
he  is  doing  in  the  present.  By  means  of  all  these 
curiosities  and  works  of  art  we  can  see  how  peo- 
ple lived  in  past  ages  and  in  different  countries ;  and 

194 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  195 


the  Metropolitan  Museum,  which  was  founded 
about  thirty  years  ago,  has  grown  until  it  is  now 
one  of  the  best  museums  in  the  world.  It  offers 
us  a  great  many  special  collections,  which,  as  I 
have  said,  show  the  beautiful  work  that  people  have 
accomplished  in  many  periods  of  the  world's  his- 
tory and  what  kind  of  articles  people  had  in  their 
houses  or  used  in  their  daily  life.  Here  we  may 
see  furniture,  pottery,  porcelain,  silver,  enamels, 
glass,  tapestries,  pictures,  carved  ivories  and  beauti- 
fully illuminated  books  for  his  home ;  laces  and  em- 
broideries and  jewelry  for  his  personal  adornment; 
armour  and  weapons  with  which  he  fought  and  de- 
fended himself  and  his  possessions, —  in  short,  a 
host  of  splendid  articles  that  are  both  useful  and 
ornamental. 

"  It  would  take  us  months  of  study  and  many 
visits  to  look  at  all  these  fine  objects  with  the  at- 
tention that  they  deserve  —  such  as  the  delicate 
ornamentation  of  the  handle  of  a  silver  spoon;  the 
extraordinary  inlay  on  a  Japanese  sword ;  the  mini- 
ature carving  of  an  ivory  binding;  the  fantastic 
shape  of  a  Venetian  goblet  or  the  intricate  patterns 
of  a  rare  piece  of  lace.  I  am  afraid  we  shall  have 
to  save  all  these  pretty  objects  for  other  visits  and 
keep  our  minds  on  a  few  of  the  exhibitions  only, 
—  and  even  these  that  I  shall  select  to  show  you  are 
so  large  that  we  must  single  out  but  a  few  of  the 
interesting  objects  in  them." 

The  children  were  somewhat  bewildered  when 
they  entered  the  great  vestibule  and  passed  quickly 
through  Rooms  7,  14,  15,  16  and  17,  filled  with 
bronzes,  antiquities  and  casts  of  ancient  sculpture, 
to  the  Main  Hall  (Room  38).  Here  they  paused 
to  get  a  general  impression. 


196  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


The  first  thing  they  noticed  was  the  beautiful 
model  of  the  Parthenon,  the  original  of  which  stood 
on  the  great  hill  of  Athens  that  was  called  the 
Acropolis.  "  The  Parthenon,  which  means  the 
House  of  the  Virgin  Goddess,  was  dedicated  to  the 
goddess  Athene,  for  whom  the  city  of  Athens  was 
named.  She  was  the  wonderful  goddess  who 
jumped  full  armed  from  the  head  of  her  father, 
Zeus  or  Jupiter.  She  is  also  called  Minerva,  and 
is  the  goddess  of  wisdom.  She  always  appears 
in  a  full  suit  of  armour.  A  beautiful  statue  of 
Athene,  all  of  ivory  and  gold,  was  made  by  the 
great  sculptor,  Phidias,  for  this  temple,  and  was 
placed  in  the  cella,  or  central  room.  Around  the 
cella  was  a  peristyle,  having  eight  Doric  columns 
at  each  end  and  seventeen  columns  on  each  side 
and  within  the  peristyle,  or  outer  row  of  columns, 
there  was  an  inner  row  of  six  columns.  You  may 
count  them  for  yourself,"  added  Doodle,  leading 
the  children  before  the  little  model  of  the  Parthenon, 
which  is  an  exact  facsimile  of  the  original  build- 
ing, one-twentieth  its  natural  size.  The  children 
were  surprised  and  delighted;  and,  after  counting 
the  columns,  they  peeped  in  and  saw  the  statue  of 
Athene  in  the  cella. 

"  Above  the  columns  in  the  back  and  front  of 
the  Parthenon,"  said  Doodle,  "  you  will  notice  the 
roof  forms  a  kind  of  triangle.  That  is  called  the 
pediment.  One  is  called  the  Eastern  Pediment  and 
the  other  the  Western  Pediment.  Phidias  filled 
each  with  beautiful  statues ;  in  fact  he  illustrated  the 
story  of  the  goddess  Athene's  birth  in  the  one,  and 
the  story  of  how  Athens  was  named  for  her  in  the 
other.  After  the  marbles  were  sculptured,  they 
were  gorgeously  painted  and  gilded. 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  197 


"  The  subject  of  the  Eastern  Pediment  is  the  birth 
of  Athene.  You  remember  that  one  day  Zeus  had 
a  bad  headache  and  sent  for  Hephaestus,  the  black- 
smith of  the  gods,  who  cleft  open  the  god's  head 
and  out  jumped  Athene,  the  goddess,  in  her  full 
suit  of  armour  brandishing  her  spear. 

"  Now  let  us  look  at  the  statues.  First  comes 
Hyperion,  the  God  of  Day,  rising  from  the  ocean; 
next  we  see  the  heads  of  the  Horses  of  the  Sun; 
then  comes  a  youthful  male  figure  sitting  on  a  lion's 
skin,  supposed  to  be  Theseus ;  then  come  two  figures 
of  women,  supposed  to  be  Ceres  and  Proserpine. 
Then  comes  Iris,  the  messenger  of  the  gods,  hur- 
rying to  earth  to  announce  the  birth  of  Athene  to 
mortals ;  then  a  Winged  Victor}- ;  then  three  female 
figures  —  probably  the  Fates;  then  the  Horses  of 
the  Moon-goddess,  Selene,  supposed  to  be  plung- 
ing into  the  sea  just  as  the  Horses  of  Day  are 
rising  from  it.  Nothing  in  all  sculpture  has  been 
more  admired  than  these  immortal  horses. 

"  Now  let  us  walk  to  the  other  side  of  the  case 
and  look  at  the  Western  Pediment.  The  Western 
Pediment  is  supposed  to  represent  the  contest  be- 
tween Athene  and  Poseidon  for  the  honour  of 
naming  the  city  of  Athens, —  a  contest  which  was 
said  to  have  occurred  on  the  Acropolis  itself. 

"  Both  Neptune  and  Athene  wanted  to  have  pos- 
session of  the  city,  and  the  gods  decreed  that  it 
should  be  given  to  the  one  that  produced  the  gift 
most  useful  to  people.  Neptune  struck  the  earth 
with  his  trident,  and  a  fine  horse  sprang  up.  The 
horse  was  certainly  useful  to  man,  nobody  could 
dispute  that.  Could  Athene  think  of  anything 
better?  Yes,  indeed  she  could!  So  she  struck  the 
earth  and  out  came  an  olive  tree  —  the  symbol  of 


igS  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


peace.  The  best  thing,  then  as  now,  that  man  can 
have  is  peace  !  So  the  gods  gave  the  city  to  Athene, 
and  it  was  named  Athens  in  her  honour.  Now 
I  am  sure  that  you  will  never  forget  the  Parthenon. 

"If  we  could  jump  on  King  Solomon's  carpet 
of  birds  and  fly  to  Athens  at  this  moment  to  see 
the  real  Parthenon,  you  would  not  recognise  it 
after  looking  at  this  restored  model,  which  repre- 
sents it  as  it  was  in  its  best  days;  now,  it  is  seeing 
its  worst.  It  is  nothing  but  a  mass  of  ruins  and 
broken  columns;  and  all  the  fine  statues  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Pediments  have  been  taken 
away.  The  Parthenon  was  built  between  the  years 
448-442  B.  C,  and,  strange  to  say,  it  remained 
standing  entire  in  all  but  the  roof  for  two  thousand 
years!  Think  of  it!  Two  thousand  years!  In 
1687  the  Venetians  besieged  Athens  and  one  of 
their  shells,  fired  from  the  opposite  shore,  nearly 
destroyed  the  whole  building  and  its  splendid 
sculpture;  but  fortunately  some  Englishmen  and 
Frenchmen  had  visited  the  place  in  1674  and  1676 
and  made  drawings  of  the  sculptures  and  this  is 
how  we  know  so  much  about  it,  and  how  it  was 
possible  for  this  miniature  Parthenon  to  be  made. 

"  The  sculptures  wTere  removed  by  the  Earl  of 
Elgin  to  England  in  1799-1803;  and  in  1816  they 
were  purchased  by  the  British  Government.  They 
are  now  in  the  Elgin  room  in  the  British  Museum 
in  London  and  are  usually  referred  to  as  the  '  Elgin 
Marbles/  Though  mutilated  and  broken,  they 
are  perhaps  the  most  celebrated  of  all  ancient 
statues.  Suppose  we  go  and  look  at  the  casts  of 
these  statues, —  shall  we?  " 

The  children  acquiesced  gladly ;  and  were  greatly 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  199 


interested  when  Doodle  showed  them  the  splendid 
figures  of  the  Eastern  Pediment  in  Room  8. 

In  this  room  they  also  saw  a  great  statue  of  a 
man  named  Laocoon  and  his  two  sons  writhing 
under  the  coils  of  two  serpents. 

As  the  children  were  much  mystified,  Doodle  ex- 
plained that  this  great  group  of  Laocoon  was  one  of 
the  most  famous  of  all  statues,  and  that  the  original, 
now  in  the  Vatican  in  Rome,  was  made  in  the 
Second  Century  B.C. —  over  two  thousand  years 
ago  —  and  was  found  among  the  ruins  of  the 
Palace  of  Titus  in  Rome  in  1506;  and  then  asked 
Jack  if  he  remembered  anything  about  the  Trojan 
War. 

"  Indeed  I  do,"  answered  Jack.  "  The  Greeks  and 
Trojans  went  to  war  about  a  beautiful  lady  named 
Helen  — " 

"  Yes;  and  Paris  carried  her  off  from  her  Greek 
husband,"  added  Nora,  "  but  I  forget  his  name." 

"Yes;  that  is  right,"  answered  Doodle.  "Now 
it  was  during  this  long  siege  of  Troy  that  this 
episode  occurred.  Troy  held  out  bravely  and  the 
Greeks  found  that  they  could  only  hope  to  take  the 
city  by  a  trick.  So  they  made  an  immense  wooden 
horse  and  said  it  was  an  offering  for  Athene ;  and 
then  large  numbers  of  them  sailed  away.  But, 
in  reality,  the  wooden  horse  was  filled  with  soldiers. 

"  The  Trojans,  thinking  the  enemy  had  gone, 
opened  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  were  about  to  take 
the  strange  horse  into  Troy  when  Laocoon,  the 
priest,  exclaimed :  *  Citizens !  you  are  mad !  Have 
you  not  learned  enough  of  the  Greeks  and  their 
treachery.  I  fear  the  Greeks  even  when  they  offer 
gifts !  '  and  then  he  threw  his  lance  into  the  horse's 


200  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


side.  But  the  gods,  who  were  on  the  side  of  the 
Greeks,  sent  two  immense  serpents  out  of  the  sea 
and  they  wound  themselves  around  Laocoon  and 
sons.  The  Trojans  thought  the  gods  were  angry 
with  Laocoon  and  dragged  the  wooden  horse  into 
the  city;  and  at  night  out  jumped  the  Greeks  and 
set  fire  to  Troy." 

Returning  to  the  Main  Hall,  Doodle  showed 
them  the  model  of  the  Hypostyle  Hall  in  the  Temple 
of  Karnak,  which  was  begun  in  the  Fifteenth  Cen- 
tury B.  C.,  and  told  them  that 

"  This  was,  perhaps,  the  largest  Temple  the 
Egyptians  ever  built.  Like  the  Parthenon,  the 
Temple  of  Karnak  is  now  in  ruins;  but  most  of  the 
columns  are  still  standing  though  the  roof  they 
supported  has  perished.  There  are  twelve  central 
columns  in  this  Great  Hall  of  Karnak  and  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  others.  In  the  real  temple, 
six  men  standing  in  a  ring  could  not  get  their 
arms  around  one  of  the  shafts  of  these  huge  pillars. 
They  are  sculptured  and  painted  with  the  figures 
of  gods  and  kings,  sacred  animals  and  symbols 
of  wisdom.  You  see  that  the  capital,  or  head,  of 
every  column  is  carved  and  painted  to  represent  a 
gigantic  lotus,  or  water-lily.  Yes;  it  was  a  superb 
temple,  consisting  of  many  other  courts  and  rooms 
besides  this  magnificent  hall ;  and  there  was  a  great 
avenue  of  sphinxes  reaching  from  Luxor  to  Karnak 
—  two  miles  long,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty 
sphinxes  on  either  side  of  the  road. 

"  Suppose  we  now  look  at  a  famous  European 
temple,"  added  Doodle,  leading  the  children  before 
the  model  of  Notre  Dame,  which  is  thirty  feet 
long,  twelve  feet  wide  and  so  perfect  in  construction 
that  not  a  single  detail  is  absent. 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  201 


Doodle  told  them  that  the  great  cathedral  of 
Paris  was  not  only  one  of  the  most  splendid 
churches  of  its  day,  but  one  of  the  most  famous 
cathedrals  in  the  world;  and  that  this  model  is  so 
accurate  that  they  might  imagine  themselves  in 
Paris  standing  before  Xotre  Dame  itself. 

"  It  is,"  said  Doodle,  "  a  perfect  example  of 
Gothic  architecture,  just  as  the  Parthenon  is  of 
Grecian  architecture.  In  all  Gothic  cathedrals, 
the  west  front  is  the  most  important  and  receives 
the  most  decoration.  Here  we  have  three  deep 
portals  or  doors  lavishly  decorated  with  sculpture 
and  figures.  Then  comes  a  row  of  statues,  above 
which  is  the  great  rose- window,  as  you  see,  in  front 
of  which  stands  a  statue  of  the  Virgin;  then  comes 
a  row  of  arches,  and,  above  this,  the  tower-gal- 
leries, where  those  fantastic  stone  monsters  look 
down  upon  the  streets  of  Paris.  Then  above  rise 
the  two  square  towers,  in  one  of  which  is  the  great 
bell  called  the  Bourdon  de  Notre  Dame,  which 
weighs  more  than  sixteen  tons  and  is  over  two 
hundred  years  old." 

Taking  the  children  around  to  the  sides  and  back, 
Doodle  showed  them  the  flying  buttresses  and  the 
apse,  and  told  them  that  the  interior  was  as 
beautiful  and  imposing  as  the  outside,  and  that  here 
many  important  events  had  taken  place.  Doodle 
also  told  them  that  Notre  Dame  stood  on  an  island 
in  the  Seine  called  lie  de  la  Cite  and  that  wherever 
you  go  up  and  down  the  Seine  the  splendid  build- 
ing makes  a  beautiful  appearance. 

"  How  I  wish  I  could  see  it !  "  exclaimed  Jack. 
"  I  like  it  better  than  I  do  the  Parthenon.  Have 
you  ever  seen  it,  Doodle  ?  " 

"  I  have,"  said  Doodle,  who  added  very  myste- 


202  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


riously,  "and  I  have  walked  around  this  platform, 
and  have  seen  these  monsters,  and  I  have  patted 
this  creature  on  the  back." 

"  Oh !  I  wouldn't  touch  him  for  anything,"  said 
Nora. 

"  I  would,"  said  Jack.  "  I  like  this  bird  with  a 
hood  on  better  though." 

"  I  have  a  picture  of  him  I  will  give  you  when 
we  go  home,"  said  Doodle. 

Next  they  visited  Rooms  30,  32,  39,  40a,  40b, 
41  and  42,  in  which  are  exhibited  casts  of  ancient 
sculpture,  Greek  and  Roman  antiquities  and  vases; 
then  they  went  into  Rooms  17,  16,  and  15,  also  de- 
voted to  ancient  sculpture,  passed  the  other  side  of 
the  stairway  this  time  (Room  13)  ;  and  then 
came  to  the  Egyptian  section  (Rooms  6,  5,  4,  and 

3)-. 

First  Doodle  showed  them  the  reproduction  of 
the  famous  Rosetta  Stone,  telling  them  that  the 
original,  now  in  the  British  Museum  —  a  slab  of 
black  basalt  —  was  found  in  1799  by  a  French 
army  officer,  near  the  Rosetta  mouth  of  the  Nile, 
—  whence  its  name. 

"  It  is  the  most  valuable  relic  of  Egyptian  history 
that  the  world  possesses,"  said  Doodle.  "  The 
great  value  of  this  stone  is  this :  the  same  inscrip- 
tion occurs  in  three  languages.  One  of  these  was 
Greek  and  another  Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  like 
those  signs  wre  saw  on  the  Obelisk  that  stands  out- 
side of  our  Museum.  Here  was  a  key  to  the  puzzle 
language  of  the  Egyptians.  On  the  Rosetta  Stone 
the  history  is  written  of  King  Ptolemy  V.,  who 
set  up  the  stone  about  196  B.  C.,  and  the  principal 
events  of  his  reign;  so  you  see  how  valuable  this 
Rosetta  Stone  is. 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  203 


"  Scholars  can  now  read  all  the  inscriptions  on 
obelisks  and  mummy-cases,  vases  and  tombs;  and, 
therefore,  we  know  a  great  deal  about  the  people 
of  ancient  Egypt  and  their  manners  and  customs. 

"  Egypt  is  one  long  valley  surrounded  by  sandy 
deserts  through  which  flows  the  river  Nile  and 
hemmed  in  by  mountains.  As  the  Nile  overflows 
its  banks  every  year,  the  Egyptians  would  not  bury 
their  friends,  or  sacred  animals,  where  the  floods 
would  be  likely  to  reach  them.  So  they  embalmed 
the  bodies  and  placed  them  in  the  mountain  caverns, 
or  in  great  tombs  that  they  specially  erected. 
Palaces,  temples,  and  tombs  have  been  dug  out  from 
the  sands  within  the  past  hundred  years,  and  great- 
treasures  brought  to  light.  Probably  the  most 
wonderful  group  of  ruins  in  the  world  are  at 
Thebes,  with  its  palaces,  temples,  statues,  obelisks 
and  sphinxes. 

"  Not  far  away  from  Thebes  is  the  Temple  of 
Karnak  which  you  have  just  seen. 

"  Now  we  will  go  and  see  what  the  people  them- 
selves looked  like,"  said  Doodle,  and  then  showed 
them  the  portrait  busts  (casts)  of  various  Kings 
and  Queens  including  that  of  the  great  warrior, 
Rameses  II.,  who  reigned  sixty-six  years  (B.  C. 
1 565-1499),  explaining  that  the  peculiar  headdress 
called  pschent,  was  the  symbol  of  dominion  over 
the  upper  and  lower  world,  and  that  the  uraeus,  or 
symbol  of  royalty  on  the  headdress,  is  the  cobra, 
or  asp,  which  seems  to  threaten  all  enemies. 

"  Yes ;"  said  Nora  turning  to  Jack,  "  we  saw  the 
real  cobra  in  the  Reptile  House  in  the  Zoological 
Park, —  don't  you  remember?  " 

After  having  looked  at  the  statues  they  then 
peeped  into  some  of  the  cases,  containing  objects 


204  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


connected  with  daily  life,  toilet  articles,  spoons, 
mirrors,  ladles,  pins,  needles,  vases  for  pomades, 
bracelets,  brooches,  earrings,  necklaces,  and  beads, 
charms  and  amulets  in  the  shape  of  birds,  insects, 
reptiles  and  animals  that  Doodle  told  them  had 
been  found  in  the  real  tombs  of  the  Egyptians. 
Doodle  also  told  them  that  the  favourite  amulet  or 
charm,  was  the  one  in  the  shape  of  a  beetle  called 
Scarab,  used  to  protect  both  the  living  and  the  dead ; 
and  that  these  scarabs  were  inscribed  with  all  kinds 
of  names  and  signs  known  sometimes  only  to  the 
owner  himself.  Another  curious  amulet  that 
Doodle  showed  them  was  an  Eye, —  emblem  of 
•the  Sun-god  Ra. 

"  All  the  figures  with  heads  of  animals  and  birds 
are  images  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  worshipped 
by  the  Egyptians,"  added  Doodle,  "  for  instance, 
this  one  with  the  jackal  head  is  Anubis;  this  cat- 
headed  goddess  is  Bast;  this  ape-headed  god,  Hapi; 
this  ram-headed  man  Chnum;  this  goddess  with 
the  head  and  horns  of  a  cow  with  a  disk  between 
the  horns  is  Hathor ;  this  hawk-headed  god,  Horus ; 
this  vulture  with  outspread  wings  is  Mut,  the 
mother  of  all  things;  this  crocodile-headed  god  is 
Sebek;  this  lion-headed  goddess  Sechet;  and  this 
ibis  is  Thoth. 

"  A  little  while  ago  I  told  you,"  said  Doodle, 
"  that  the  Egyptians  built  great  tombs  to  protect 
their  dead  from  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile.  Did 
I  tell  you  that  they  embalmed  the  dead  bodies  and 
wrapped  them  in  linen  bandages  with  all  kinds  of 
spices  and  perfumes  that  would  preserve  them  for 
ages?  Then  they  placed  them  in  caskets,  or  cases 
painted  all  over  with  little  brightly  coloured  pictures 
of  the  gods  and  sacred  animals  and  events  in  the 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM 


20; 


life  of  the  person  who  lies  within?  Xo?  Well, 
they  did ;  and  many  mummies  have  been  found  that 
are  the  shells  so  to  speak  of  persons  that  lived  — 
not  hundreds  —  mind  you  —  but  thousands  of  years 
ago.    Shall  we  look  at  a  few? 

"  This  one  is  the  mummy  of  a  warrior  who  lived, 
died,  and  was  buried  more  than  three  thousand 
years  ago !  The  cover  of  the  mummy  case  is  carved 
wood :  the  face  and  hands  are  tinted  yellow,  the 
hair  is  green  with  yellow  stripes,  and  the  big  neck- 
lace of  green,  yellow,  salmon,  pink  and  blue.  There 
is  a  red  band  around  his  neck  and  a  winged  disk 
over  his  lips  and  at  the  end  of  each  wing  is  a  Ba- 
bird  (that  is  a  representation  of  the  soul  of  the 
dead  person)  in  adoration  before  the  cartouche 
(  the  monogram)  of  King  Amenhotep  L  Across 
the  knees  is  a  winged  deity. —  probably  Xut  with 
Horus  and  Isis  on  the  left  and  Horus  and  Xeph- 
thys  on  the  right  between  the  wings  and  Osiris  is 
lower  down  receiving  adoration.  The  mummy 
case  proper  is  decorated  with  scenes  representing 
the  figure  of  the  deceased,  various  gods  —  Osiris 
receiving  the  adoration  of  the  Ba-bird  and  other 
gods.  The  figure  of  the  deceased  is  shown  to  be 
offering  prayers  and  making  offerings  to  the  gods. 
Amulets  and  the  symbolic  eye  of  the  Ra  the  truth 
feather,  and  the  uracus  appear  frequently. 

"  Here  is  the  Mummy  of  the  Lady  of  the  House. 
Shep.  dating  from  1200  or  1100  B.  C. 

"  The  mummy  is  in  her  original  wrappings  and 
bandages.  Her  hair  is  white  with  green  stripes  on 
the  sides,  her  face  is  pink,  and  she  also  has  on  a  neck- 
lace. On  top  of  her  head  is  a  large  disk  and  on 
her  forehead  a  winged  disk,  the  wings  of  which 
extend  down  the  sides  of  her  face.    The  Lady 


2o6  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


of  the  House  Shep  is  surrounded  by  various  deities 
and  at  the  foot  lie  two  figures  of  Anubis  as  jackal. 

"  Can  you  realise  that  you  are  looking  at  a  rich 
and  beautiful  lady  who  lived  thousands  of  years 
ago?" 

After  having  seen  all  they  wanted  here,  the  three 
crossed  over  the  hall  to  Rooms  u  and  12  and 
thence  into  No.  9,  looking  at  the  casts  of  ancient 
sculpture  with  which  these  rooms  are  filled. 
Doodle  explained  how  originals  had  been  found 
from  time  to  time  in  far  away  islands  and  among 
ruins  of  palaces,  temples  and  baths,  in  Greece  and 
Rome,  and  taken  to  various  galleries  of  Europe; 
and  that  these  casts  were  exactly  like  the  originals. 

They  saw  statues  of  all  the  great  gods  and  god- 
desses—  Jupiter  and  Juno,  Apollo  and  Diana, 
Minerva  and  Venus;  great  heroes  of  myth  and 
legend;  Victories  rushing  through  the  air  with  out- 
spread wings ;  Niobe  protecting  her  last  surviving 
child  from  the  arrows  of  Apollo  and  Diana;  the 
sleeping  Ariadne,  deserted  by  Theseus,  who  is  go- 
ing to  awake  and  become  the  bride  of  Bacchus; 
and  athletes  throwing  the  quoit,  scraping  them- 
selves after  exercise,  binding  their  heads  with  a 
fillet,  or  crowning  themselves  after  the  Olympic 
games  in  which  they  had  won  victories. 

Doodle  pointed  out  the  most  celebrated  pieces  as 
they  wandered  about,  and  promised  to  tell  Jack 
and  Nora  the  stories  of  each  one  at  some  future 
time. 

They  did  not  linger  in  Room  7  in  which  the 
bronzes  are  preserved,  but  passed  on  to  the  stair- 
case. "  Now  we  will  go  up-stairs,"  said  Doodle, 
"  and  see  the  pictures. 

"  Do  you  not  think  it  wonderful  that  a  person 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  207 


with  a  brush,  a  few  paints  and  a  piece  of  canvas, 
can,  by  making  a  few  lines  and  dabbing  on  some 
colours,  represent  on  a  flat  surface,  objects  and 
scenes  that  give  pleasure  to  the  spectator?  With 
form  and  colour,  light  and  shade,  the  painter  depicts 
for  us  a  person,  a  bird,  an  animal,  a  house,  a  church, 
a  little  piece  of  the  country,  a  little  bit  of  the  sea, 
a  vase  of  flowers  or  a  basket  of  fruits;  or  he  tells 
us  a  little  story,  or  describes  in  paint  a  little  scene. 

"  Painting  is  a  very  old  art.  We  have  just  seen 
some  of  the  Egyptian  paintings  on  the  mummy- 
cases  down  stairs,  and  we  saw  the  bright  colours  on 
the  columns  in  the  little  model  of  the  Temple  of 
Karnak.  Now  the  Greeks,  who  come  next  in 
civilisation  to  the  Egyptians,  used  to  paint  real 
pictures  to  hang  up  in  the  temples  and  homes ;  and 
they  also  painted  pictures  on  the  walls  of  their 
houses.  Indeed  the  Greeks  were  almost  as  famous 
for  their  painting  as  they  were  for  their  sculpture. 

"A  story  is  told  of  two  Greek  painters,  each  of 
whom  boasted  that  he  could  paint  better  than  the 
other.  One  of  the  painters  tried  to  brush  a  fly  off 
his  rival's  picture  and  was  amazed  to  find  that  the 
fly  was  a  painted  one.  Then  the  man  who  had 
painted  the  life-like  fly  said  to  the  other:  'Sup- 
pose you  raise  the  curtain  and  let  me  see  your 
picture  ? '  But  this  the  artist  could  not  do,  be- 
cause he  had  painted  a  curtain !  So  you  may  im- 
agine that  the  Greeks  could  imitate  pretty  well, 
if  the  painters  could  deceive  each  other. 

"  Painting,  as  we  know  it,  dates  from  about  the 
Thirteenth  Century;  and  what  we  know  to-day 
comes  from  the  Greeks  of  Constantinople.  When 
Constantinople  was  conquered  in  1204,  many  Greek 
artists  went  to  Italy;  and  the  Italians  copied  their 


208  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


pictures  and  their  ways  of  painting.  So  the  early 
Italians  all  paint  in  the  Byzantine,  or  Greek,  style. 
So  did  the  German  and  other  European  artists.  At 
this  period,  Siena  was  a  great  place  for  painters, 
and  the  early  Sienese  School  and  the  Florentine 
School  are  both  famous :  each  one  claims  to  be  the 
older.  They  are,  however,  about  the  same  age. 
The  early  European  artists,  who  are  to-day  called 
'  Primitives  '  painted  chiefly  altar-pieces  for  their 
churches ;  and  naturally  their  favourite  subject  was 
the  Madonna  with  the  Infant  Jesus.  Sometimes 
they  painted  saints  standing  at  the  side  of  the 
Madonna's  throne,  or  chair;  sometimes  angels;  and, 
very  often,  the  man  who  gave  the  picture  (the 
donor)  kneeling  in  prayer.  Occasionally,  too,  they 
painted  the  Nativity  of  Christ,  or  the  Adoration 
of  the  Three  Kings;  but  their  favourite  subject  was 
the  Madonna. 

"  I  don't  believe  that  either  of  you  understand 
them  or  care  for  these  queer  old  pictures ;  the  peo- 
ple are  so  lanky  and  flat,  and  they  have  such  long 
thin  hands  and  feet  and  such  peculiar  faces.  Some- 
times, however,  the  Madonna  has  a  lovely  expres- 
sion, if  you  study  her.  The  Sienese  painters  usually 
dressed  her  in  robes  of  the  richest  brocade,  and 
placed  the  throne,  or  chair,  in  which  she  sits,  against 
a  background  of  real  gold.  The  halo  around  her 
head,  or  the  crown  that  holds  her  veil  in  place,  is 
real  gold,  and  gold  is  used  to  touch  up  certain 
parts  of  the  picture.  Would  you  like  to  see  some 
of  these  queer  old  pictures?  " 

"  I  certainly  should,"  replied  Jack. 

"  I,  too,"  Nora  added. 

"  Then  come  here.  This  one  is  by  Simone 
Memmi  of  the  Sienese  School  and  represents  St. 


PLAN   OF   THE   FIRST  FLOOR 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  209 


Paul.  It  was  painted  five  hundred  years  ago! 
Here  is  part  of  an  altar-piece,  by  Giovanni  di 
Paolo,  also  of  Siena.  St.  Francis  is  standing  on  the 
right  beneath  a  Gothic  framework  and  St.  Mat- 
thew, on  the  left,  both  standing  against  a  gold 
background.  The  Virgin  and  Child  that  are  ac- 
companied by  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Peter  is  by  Pietro 
di  Domenico  and  the  Madonna  and  Child  that  you 
are  looking  at  so  intently,  Nora,  is  by  Sano  di 
Pietro.  All  these  are  splendid  examples  of  the 
Sienese  School." 

"  What  is  a  School,  Doodle?  " 

"  I  am  glad  you  asked  me,"  Doodle  answered. 
"  I  should  have  thought  to  tell  you  that  a  School 
means  a  group  of  men  who  painted  in  the  same 
style  —  that  is  to  say,  the  same  general  style,  or 
were  followers  and  imitators  of  a  special  master. 
Now,  having  seen  the  Sienese,  here  is  a  Florentine 
picture  of  the  early  Fifteenth  Century,  by  Lorenzo 
Monaco;  and  this  other  Madonna  and  Child  is  by 
Bartolommeo  Montagna  of  the  School  of  Vicenza." 

"  What  is  this  picture?  "  Jack  asked,  stopping  be- 
fore Pollaiuolo's  St.  Christopher. 

"  St.  Christopher  was  one  of  the  saints  that  the 
Primitives  were  particularly  fond  of  painting. 
Do  you  know  the  story?  He  was  a  giant  about 
twelve  feet  high  (twice  as  tall  as  a  very  tall  man), 
and  he  was  enormously  big  and  strong  besides; 
and  he  was  so  proud  of  his  strength  and  size  that 
he  would  only  serve  the  mightiest  princes.  He 
wasn't  a  saint  in  those  days,  you  know ;  he  was  only 
an  ordinary  giant.  At  last  he  went  into  the  service 
of  the  Devil.  One  day  he  and  the  Devil  were 
walking  through  the  woods  and  they  came  across 
an  image  of  Christ.    The  Devil  was  so  frightened 


210  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 

that  the  Giant  lost  confidence  in  him  and  deter- 
mined to  find  out  the  Saviour  (who  was  evidently 
greater  than  the  Devil)  and  to  serve  him  wThen  he 
found  him.  While  wandering  about  he  came 
across  an  old  Christian  hermit,  who  told  him  all 
about  Christ  and  christened  him;  and  he  had  to  do 
penance  by  carrying  Christian  pilgrims  over  a 
stream  that  had  no  bridge.  One  day  a  little  child 
came  to  the  stream  and  St.  Christopher  took  him 
on  his  shoulders;  but  soon  he  began  to  sink  under 
the  terrible  weight.  The  child  was  the  Infant 
Christ  himself ;  and  to  prove  it  he  told  St.  Chris- 
topher to  stick  his  staff  into  the  ground.  He  did 
this ;  and  the  next  morning,  lo !  the  staff  had  become 
a  palm-tree ! 

"  Now  let  us  look  at  the  picture.  St.  Christopher 
has  a  halo  around  his  head  and  a  palm-tipped  staff 
in  his  right  hand.  The  Child  holds  the  globe  in 
His  left  hand  and  His  right  arm,  you  see,  is  around 
the  saint's  neck.  They  are  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  for  you  see  the  shores  on  either  side,  and 
above  is  blue  sky.  This  picture  was  painted  by  an 
Italian  with  a  very  peculiar  name  to  our  ears, 
Antonio  del  Pollaiuolo  (Polly  wallow  is  the  near- 
est we  can  say)  ;  and  he  and  his  brother  were  gold- 
smiths of  Florence  in  the  Fifteenth  Century. 
Afterwards  they  became  painters;  and  their 
masterpieces  now  scattered  in  the  great  galleries 
of  Europe  are  very  highly  valued  to-day. 

"  We  haven't  time  to  talk  about  the  various 
schools  of  painting  and  all  the  great  Italian  artists; 
nor  of  painting  and  painters  in  other  countries  — 
Dutch,  Flemish,  German,  French,  Spanish  and 
English  painting;  for  we  have  come  here  to  look 
at  pictures  and  not  to  talk  about  them;  but  I  can 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM         21 1 


tell  you  one  thing, —  and  that  is  that  in  this  Mu- 
seum very  nearly  all  schools  and  styles  of  painting 
are  represented ;  and  there  are  examples  from  nearly 
every  one  of  the  great  Masters  of  the  past  and 
present. 

"  We  are  going  to  run  through  the  rooms  quickly 
and  look  at  a  few  striking  pictures. 

"  Before  we  leave  this  room,  however,  we  will 
glance  at  this  Portrait  of  Thomas  a  Beckct,  by  Jan 
van  Eyck,  who,  with  his  brother,  Hubert  van 
Eyck,  invented  or  improved  the  method  of  paint- 
ing with  oil.  This,  however,  is  not  all  that  dis- 
tinguished him.  Jan  van  Eyck  was  a  wonderful 
painter  of  life-like  portraits  and  very  decorative 
altar-pieces.  He  was  greatly  appreciated  in  his 
day,  and  had  many  pupils.  Whenever  you  see  a 
picture  by  Jan  van  Eyck,  you  should  look  at  it 
carefully. 

"If  people  had  not  learned  how  to  paint  por- 
traits," Doodle  continued,  as  they  entered  Room 
12,  "and  how  to  get  a  good  likeness  of  their 
sitters,  we  should  not  know  what  famous  people 
looked  like  in  the  days  before  photographs  were 
known.  Almost  all  the  great  artists  were  splendid 
portrait  painters  and  tried  to  represent  the  people 
who  sat  to  them  exactly  as  they  were.  Some  of 
our  early  American  artists  were  very  fine  portrait- 
painters,  too,  and  their  works  are  very  highly 
valued  to-day.  One  of  these  is  Gilbert  Stuart,  who 
was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and  was  educated 
in  Scotland  and  England.  He  painted  the  por- 
traits of  many  distinguished  persons  abroad  — 
among  them  three  Kings  —  Louis  XVI.  of  France, 
George  III.  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  (afterwards 
George  IV.).    He  also  painted  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 


212  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


nolds  and  Benjamin  West;  and,  when  he  came 
home,  he  painted  the  portraits  of  six  Presidents 
of  the  United  States, —  George  Washington,  John 
Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  James  Madison,  James 
Monroe  and  John  Quincy  Adams. 

"  This  gallery  is  fortunate  in  owning  among 
others  by  him,  two  of  George  Washington.  The 
one  painted  in  1803  is  the  more  famous.  It  is 
very  simple  in  style;  and  that  is  one  reason  that 
it  is  so  much  admired.  The  dark  grey  eyes  look 
calmly  and  steadily  in  front  and  the  face  is 
strongly  lighted  from  the  left.  The  powdered 
hair  and  bright  colour  of  the  complexion  stand 
out  well  from  the  olive  background.  You  see  how 
severe  is  the  costume  —  a  black  coat  and  a  white 
lace  ruff  and  necktie. 

"  It  is  appropriate  that  we  next  look  at  Washing- 
ton Crossing  the  Delaware ,"  said  Doodle,  entering 
Room  13.  "  This  is  by  a  painter  of  the  American 
School,  Emanuel  Leutze,  painted  in  185 1.  Though 
not  particularly  remarkable  as  a  work  of  art,  it 
depicts  a  noted  historical  event  with  so  much  dra- 
matic force  that  it  has  become  quite  famous.  You 
have  seen  it  reproduced  in  books  and  magazines 
many  times.  I  suppose  you  remember  the  story, — 
how  General  Washington,  having  determined  to 
surprise  the  British  at  Trenton,  took  twenty-four 
thousand  men  and  twenty  pieces  of  artillery  across 
the  Delaware  river,  which  was  full  of  snow  and 
ice,  the  night  of  Dec.  25,  1776." 

"  Christmas  night !  "  exclaimed  Nora. 

"  Yes,  Christmas  night,"  answered  Doodle ; 
"  and  the  river  was  so  packed  with  floating  ice  and 
the  night  was  so  dark  and  stormy  that  they  doubted 
if  they  could  cross  it.    They  started  early  in  the 


THE    METROPOLITAN    MUSEUM   OF  ART 
SECOND  FLOOR 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  213 


evening;  and  it  was  nearly  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing before  everybody  was  safely  landed. 

''We  will  not  stop  in  this  gallery  (Room  14) 
because  it  is  devoted  to  modern  American  paint- 
ings, chiefly  landscapes,  for  which  you  will  prob- 
ably care  very  little.  As  we  pass,  however,  look 
at  George  de  Forest  Brush's  In  the  Garden.  Here 
you  see  a  tired  mother  with  a  baby  in  her  arms 
and  another  child  clinging  to  her  arm.  There  are 
a  few  dull  red  flowers  in  the  grass  and  the  baby's 
dull  red  stockings  are  noticeable  against  the  green. 
This  is  a  very  modern  work, —  and  very  different 
from  Washington  Crossing  the  Delaware,  isn't  it? " 

Quickly  walking  from  Room  15,  where  many 
pictures  of  the  Dutch  school  hang,  into  Room  16, 
Doodle  took  them  to  look  at  Fortuny's  Arab  Fan>- 
tasia  at  Tangier s,  telling  them  that  the  Spaniard 
Fortuny,  one  of  the  greatest  of  modern  painters, 
began  life  as  a  poor  boy,  whose  great  talents  soon 
made  him  famous.  He  painted  portraits  and  Span- 
ish scenes  very  splendidly  and  loved  the  more 
picturesque  Arabs.  "  Whether  this  is  a  religious 
festival,  or  a  noisy  sport, —  a  sort  of  Fourth  of 
July  celebration  —  frantic  action  and  noise  could 
hardly  be  better  expressed  than  in  this  spirited  and 
beautifully  finished  picture,  that  was  painted  in 
1866. 

"  There  is  a  great  deal  of  noise  in  this  picture, 
too,"  added  Doodle,  as  they  stopped  to  look  at 
Lc  B  our  get ,  by  De  Neuville  (No.  61),  which 
represents  a  scene  during  the  Franco-Prussian  War, 
when  the  town  of  Le  Bourget  had  fallen  a  second 
time  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  In  the  village 
church,  however,  eight  French  officers  and  about 
twenty  men  still  resisted,  and  the  enemy  had  to 


214  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


fire  through  the  windows  before  the  little  band  of 
heroes  would  surrender. 

After  this,  Doodle  showed  them  Millet's  famous 
Sower  (No.  79),  and  as  they  looked  wonderingly 
at  the  figure  of  the  labourer,  read  them  Gautier's 
description: 

"  '  The  night  is  coming,  spreading  its  grey  wings 
over  the  earth;  the  sower  marches  with  a  rhythmic 
step,  flinging  the  grain  in  the  furrow ;  he  is  followed 
by  a  cloud  of  pecking  birds ;  he  is  covered  with  dark 
rags,  his  head  by  a  curious  cap.  He  is  bony, 
swart,  meagre  under  this  livery  of  poverty,  yet  it 
is  life  which  his  large  hands  shed;  he  who  has 
nothing  pours  upon  the  earth,  with  a  superb  gesture, 
the  bread  of  the  future.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
slope  a  last  ray  of  the  sun  shows  a  pair  of  oxen 
at  the  end  of  their  furrow,  strong  and  gentle  com- 
panions of  man,  whose  recompense  will  one  day  be 
the  slaughter-house.  This  is  the  only  light  of  the 
picture,  which  is  bathed  in  shadow,  and  presents 
to  the  eye,  under  a  cloudy  sky,  nothing  but  newly 
ploughed  earth/ 

"  Millet  was  very  fond  of  representing  the  peas- 
ants," Doodle  continued,  "  and  generally  showed 
them  at  their  work, —  men  and  women  ploughing, 
sewing,  reaping,  stopping  to  take  noon-day  rest, 
or  pausing  to  murmur  a  prayer  at  the  close  of  day. 
Here  is  another  painter  who  sees  the  beauty  and  the 
pathos  of  lowly  life  —  the  Dutch  painter  Israels. 
Come  here  now  and  look  at  the  Frugal  Meal  (No. 
48).  In  all  of  Israels's  pictures  —  and  he  has 
painted  a  great  many,  for  he  is  a  very  old  man 
now  —  he  always  shows  us  the  true  feelings  of 
the  people  he  paints. 

"  How  do  you  like  this  picture  ?  99  Doodle  asked, 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  215 


as  they  entered  Room  17  and  paused  before 
Couture's  Day  Dreams,  also  called  The  Idle  Stu- 
dent. 

"  Very  much,"  said  Jack.  "  I  love  to  blow  soap 
bubbles  myself  and  watch  the  pretty  colours  turning 
round  and  round.    Those  look  like  real  bubbles." 

The  children  liked  the  graceful  boy  dressed  in 
black  velvet  with  a  somewhat  limp  white  collar, 
who  leans  back  in  his  chair  with  one  hand  on  the 
heel  of  his  shoe  and  in  the  other  the  straw,  by 
means  of  which  he  has  blown  the  two  bubbles  that 
he  watches  so  dreamily.  Doodle  called  attention 
to  his  books  and  papers  on  the  table,  also  the  boy's 
spinning-top  and  the  glass  of  soap  suds,  adding: 
"  Perhaps  the  boy  is  not  as  idle  as  he  looks  —  I 
think  the  painter  means  to  tell  us  that  he  is  a 
dreamer  and  a  thinker;  and,  perhaps,  an  artist;  and 
that  the  laurel  wreath  of  success  will  crown  him  one 
day.  See !  there  it  is  above  his  head ;  but  he  does 
not  see  it." 

From  this  picture,  they  went  to  look  at  Gabriel 
Max's  Last  Token. 

"  This  picture  tells  us  a  story,"  said  Doodle. 
"  The  pretty  young  woman  in  a  white  dress  with 
the  black  mantle  wrapt  around  her  head  and 
shoulders  is  a  Christian  martyr.  There  she  stands 
in  the  arena  condemned  to  death.  The  heartless 
people  have  gathered  to  see  her  devoured  by  the 
wild  beasts.  Of  course,  she  is  pale,  for  she  knows 
that  fierce  leopard  creeping  through  the  wall  beneath 
the  raised  iron  grating  at  her  left  and  the  hyena 
and  other  leopard  rolling  about  on  her  left  will 
soon  be  crushing  her  bones.  Poor  thing!  We 
can't  see  the  spectators,  but  somebody  has  thrown 
her  a  rose.    See  it, —  at  her  feet?    She  has  seen 


216  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


it,  and  looks  up  to  see  the  person  who  threw  her 
The  Last  Token.  Do  you  think  it  came  from  the 
hand  of  a  relative,  or  a  friend,  or  a  lover,  or  a 
stranger  whose  heart  was  touched  with  pity? 
The  artist  has  made  a  fine  contrast  between  the 
gentleness  of  the  girl  and  the  ferocity  of  the  wild 
beasts." 

"  Doodle,"  said  Jack  suddenly,  "  do  you  know 
that  Rajah  is  dead  ?    These  animals  reminded  me !  " 
"No!    What  Rajah?" 

"  Rajah  in  the  Zoological  Park,"  replied  Jack. 

"Yes;"  said  Nora.  "Handsome,  cross  old 
Rajah.  We  saw  it  in  the  paper  this  morning. 
Yes;  he  choked  himself  to  death." 

Now  entering  Room  18,  also  devoted  to  modern 
paintings,  they  first  stopped  in  front  of  Rosa 
Bonheur's  Weaning  the  Calves  (No.  449).  "See 
how  unhappy  the  mother  cow  looks,"  said  Doodle, 
"  as  she  stands  by  the  bars  that  separate  her  from 
the  calf?  The  poor  calf,  too,  looks  up  pleading 
for  an  explanation.  Four  other  calves  are  awaiting 
their  mothers  who  are  coming  slowly  down  the  hill 
towards  their  pen.  Notice  how  finely  the  snowy 
streaked  mountains  rise  into  the  clear  blue  sky  be- 
yond the  hills. 

"  Rosa  Bonheur  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  all 
woman  painters.  Her  specialty  was  animals.  She 
was  French,  born  in  Bordeaux  in  1822.  She  began 
to  draw  when  she  was  only  four  years  old,  and  at- 
tained great  fame  at  an  early  age.  Medals  and 
honours  were  showered  upon  her  and  she  was  so 
highly  thought  of  that  during  the  Franco-Prussian 
War  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  issued  orders 
that  her  studio  and  residence  near  the  Forest  of 
Fontainebleau  should  be  specially  protected.  Peo- 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  217 


pie  in  this  country  were  so  enthusiastic  about  her, 
that  she  was  offered  a  house  if  she  would  come  to 
New  York  to  live.  We  shall  see  her  most  famous 
picture,  the  Horse  Fair,  presently." 

By  way  of  contrast,  they  looked  at  Gerome's 
Prayer  in  a  Mosque;  and  Doodle  explained  it  as 
follows : 

"  The  Mosque  is  in  Old  Cairo  —  just  the  sort  of 
a  place  you  read  of  in  the  Arabian  Nights;  and  these 
people  who  are  praying  there  in  such  splendid  cos- 
tumes are  real  Arabian  Nights'  people.  Some  of 
them  are  standing  in  a  line  under  the  old  Moorish 
arches ;  and  on  the  right  are  three  gorgeously 
dressed  Mussulmans.  Just  look  at  their  silks  and 
velvets  and  the  lovely  colours  of  their  costumes ! 
Look,  too,  at  the  pigeons  on  the  floor  of  the 
Mosque !  " 

Passing  to  another  canvas  in  the  the  same  gallery, 
Doodle  asked : 

"  You  know  this  picture, —  don't  you?  It  is 
called  The  Storm  (No.  476),  and  is  by  P.  A.  Cot. 
A  young  boy  and  girl  are  running  to  escape  the  ap-, 
proaching  storm.  Notice  how  black  the  clouds  are 
and  how  the  lightning  is  flashing.  The  wind  is 
blowing  out  the  yellow  silk  scarf  they  are  holding 
above  their  heads.  The  girl  looks  scared,  but  the 
boy  looks  pleased  to  be  taking  care  of  her.  As  the 
landscape  is  tropical,  I  think  the  country  must  be 
the  Island  of  Martinique  and  the  boy  and  girl, 
Paul  and  Virginia  of  Bernardin  de  St.  Pierre's 
story." 

Passing  into  another  room,  "  I  myself  love  the 
early  French  painters,"  said  Doodle,  "  and  one  of 
my  favourites  is  Greuze.  This  one  by  him,  called 
Vohipte,  you  see,  is  only  the  bust  of  a  young  girl 


218  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


with  blue  eyes  and  light  hair  and  thin  white  dra- 
pery about  her  shoulders;  but  look  at  those  liquid 
eyes  and  that  dewy  mouth!  Isn't  it  wonderful  to 
get  all  that  expression  and  life  with  a  few  strokes 
of  the  brush?  How  did  Greuze  make  those  eyes 
swim  in  their  own  light  and  how  did  he  paint  that 
drapery? 

"  I  think  you  will  like  this  portrait  of  the 
Princesse  de  Conde,  by  Nattier,  another  French 
artist.  This  picture  once  belonged  to  Marie  An- 
toinette. Just  think  of  it.  When  this  picture  was 
painted  in  1756  the  court  ladies  had  a  great  fancy 
for  dressing  themselves  up  as  mythological  god- 
desses and  having  their  portraits  painted  as  Juno, 
or  Ceres,  or  Diana.  The  Princess  de  Conde  is 
pretending  that  she  is  Diana.  How  beautifully  the 
leopard-skin  is  thrown  over  her  white  dress ! 
Hasn't  she  fine  eyes? 

"  This  lady,"  continued  Doodle,  pausing  before 
Largillierre's  Marie  de  Thorigny,  "  was  called  in  her 
own  time  '  as  beautiful  as  the  day.'  " 

"  Oh,  I  think  that  is  a  lovely  picture !  "  cried 
Nora,  looking  admiringly  at  the  lady  standing  by 
a  fountain  and  allowing  the  water  to  trickle  over 
her  right  hand,  while  with  her  left  she  holds  her 
handsome  red  robe. 

"  Oh,  look  at  the  parrot  beside  her  cracking  a 
nut!"  exclaimed  Jack. 

"  And  the  little  negro  boy  with  a  little  dog  in 
his  arms,"  added  Nora.  "  What  is  he  doing  there, 
Doodle?" 

"  He  is  a  page.  In  the  Seventeenth  Century  it 
was  very  fashionable  for  rich  ladies  to  have  little 
negro  boys  to  attend  them,  and  they  dressed  them 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  219 


up  in  fantastic  costumes.  You  will  often  see  them 
in  portraits  and  pictures  of  the  day.  They  used  to 
have  for  pets  parrots  and  monkeys  and  negro  boys 
and  spaniels." 

Next  they  looked  at  Boucher's  Rescue  of  Avion 
from  the  Waves,  and  Doodle  told  them  that 
"  Arion,  the  Greek  poet,  was  going  home  from 
a  musical  contest  in  Sicily,  where  he  had  won  the 
prize,  and  was  thrown  into  the  sea  by  the  jealous 
sailors ;  but  he  was  not  harmed  in  the  least,  because 
the  dolphins,  which  had  gathered  around  the  ship, 
saved  him.  Boucher,  the  charming  painter  of 
lovely  mythological  scenes,  whose  colours  are  so 
bright  and  soft  that  they  look  as  if  he  had  dipped 
his  brush  into  dewy  flowers  instead  of  paint,  shows 
Arion  on  the  back  of  a  dolphin  unconcernedly 
playing  the  lyre,  while  the  gods,  nymphs  and  dol- 
phins, enchanted  by  his  music,  have  come  to  hear 
him.  On  the  left,  you  see  the  ship  is  sinking  in 
a  storm ;  but  beyond  the  heavy  clouds  there  is  the 
bright  blue  sky.  How  lovely  is  the  colour  of  the 
red  drapery  around  Arion." 

Room  20,  devoted  to  the  English  School,  did 
not  particularly  interest  the  children,  for  it  con- 
tains chiefly  portraits  and  landscapes.  They  were 
attracted,  however,  by  the  little  girl  standing  in  the 
woods  near  a  pool  of  water  with  a  cat  for  her 
companion;  —  a  picture  once  attributed  to  Gains- 
borough and  now  to  Gainsborough  Dupont. 
They  liked  still  better  Henry  Morland's  Miss 
Rich  Building  a  House  of  Cards,  supposed  until 
recently  by  Hogarth.  Noticing  how  much  they 
enjoyed  making  the  acquaintance  of  this  little  girl, 
Doodle  said: 

\ 


220  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Little  Miss  Rich  is  about  your  age,  Nora. 
How  would  you  like  to  have  a  white  dress  and  a 
white  cap  like  hers  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  I  should  like  it  very  much,"  said 
Nora,  "  but  I  like  it  on  her." 

"  I  have  never  been  able  to  get  cards  up  as  far 
as  that,"  said  Jack,  much  interested  in  Miss  Rich's 
achievement. 

The  children  did  not  know  why  they  liked  it  so 
much;  but  the  charm  of  the  picture  lies  in  the 
natural  pose  of  the  little  girl  and  the  delicate  colour- 
ing. 

They  also  enjoyed  Landseer's  dogs  —  Alexander 
and  Diogenes,  for  the  dogs  struck  them  as  being 
so  natural. 

"Oh,  isn't  that  Napoleon?"  asked  Jack  as  he 
caught  sight  of  Haydon's  picture  in  which  the  hero 
stands  statue-like  on  a  cliff  with  his  arms  folded 
across  his  breast  and  looking  intently  on  the  sun 
that  is  setting  upon  the  ocean. 

"  Yes,  it  is.  And  he  has  on  the  uniform  he 
wore  at  the  Battle  of  Waterloo.  He  is  now  at  St. 
Helena,  thinking  very  mournful  thoughts  in  his 
island  prison." 

This,  however,  not  being  important  enough  to 
dwell  upon,  Doodle  called  their  attention  to  the 
most  celebrated  picture  in  this  Room  —  Turner's 
Whale  Ship.  Neither  Jack  nor  Nora  could  make 
anything  out  of  it. 

"  Look  again.  Suppose  we  try  and  see  what 
is  really  in  the  picture,"  said  Doodle,  continuing: 
"  We  see  a  white  ghost-like  ship  with  all  her  sails 
spread,  coming  through  the  misty  atmosphere. 
Right  here  in  the  foreground  a  big  whale  has  been 
harpooned  and  is  spouting  bloody  water  from  his 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  221 


.wounds.  See;  he  has  upset  with  his  lashing  tail 
one  of  the  four  boats  that  are  after  him.  But  this 
is  not  all  by  any  means.  The  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  the  picture  is  its  brilliancy  of  light  in  the  sky 
and  in  the  water,  the  movement  and  immensity  of 
the  waves,  the  rush  of  the  coming  boat,  and  the 
action  of  the  monster  as  he  splashes  and  spouts  in 
the  sea. 

"  Now  let  us  go  back  into  the  Vanderbilt  Gal- 
lery and  look  at  Turner's  Grand  Canal  Venice, 
(No.  165).  Everything  is  plain  here.  We  seem 
to  be  standing  at  the  entrance  to  the  Grand  Canal: 
the  church  of  Santa  Maria  della  Salute  and  the 
Dogana  Vecchia  are  on  the  right;  and  a  long  row 
of  buildings  extending  to  the  Doge's  Palace  and  the 
Campanile  are  on  the  left.  Gondolas,  barges  and 
fishing-boats  are  seen  in  the  broad  light  of  a  sunny 
day  and  are  clearly  reflected  in  the  water.  How 
beautiful  and  how  fantastic  is  the  lovely  city  of 
Venice,  which  seems  to  melt  into  the  clouds  that 
float  in  the  blue  sky!  No  wonder  this  city  was 
called  the  1  Queen  of  the  Adriatic.'  Now  let  us 
go  back  again  to  the  Whale  Ship.  You  see  it  still 
seems  to  be  a  chaos  until  we  look  at  it  closely; 
but  after  we  accustom  our  eyes  to  it  and  appreciate 
the  richness  and  glow  of  .its  colours,  all  the  other 
pictures  around  it  seem  dull  and  cold." 

Passing  into  Room  21,  devoted  to  pictures  of 
the  French  School,  Doodle  took  the  children  first 
to  see  the  most  celebrated  picture  in  this  group  — 
Meissonnier's  Friedland  1807.  Of  course,  they 
wanted  to  know  what  the  name  meant.  Doodle, 
therefore,  explained  that  it  was  one  of  Napoleon's 
great  battles  in  the  year  1807,  and  then  went  on  to 
say  that  "  Friedland  1807  is  the  largest  canvas  Meis- 


222  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


sonnier  ever  painted;  but  it  is  just  as  full  of  detailed 
finish  for  which  this  painter  was  noted  as  his  small 
paintings.  Meissonnier  said  of  this  picture  that  he 
did  not  paint  a  battle  scene.  What  he  wanted  to 
do  was  to  paint  Napoleon  at  the  height  of  his 
power  and  to  represent  the  adoration  and  love  the 
soldiers  had  for  their  great  Captain.  So,  there 
he  is  on  that  little  mound,  mounted  on  his  famous 
white  horse,  surrounded  by  his  generals  and  aides. 
The  cuirassiers  are  on  their  way  to  the  battle  and 
are  charging  through  a  wheat  field,  every  soldier 
rising  in  his  stirrups  and  crying  '  Vive  V  Emper- 
eur! '  See  how  their  swords  gleam  in  the  sunlight, 
and  how  the  sunlight  shines  on  the  helmets  and 
armour  and  the  splendidly  groomed  horses.  Look 
at  the  bugler  on  the  extreme  right.  He  is  one 
of  the  most  admired  figures  in  the  picture.  On 
they  dash,  sure  of  victory,  over  the  wheat  field  that 
will  never  ripen.  Napoleon  salutes  them  as  they 
pass.  Light  clouds  float  in  the  blue  sky  above  the 
raging  battle  that  we  do  not  see ;  but  to  which  these 
troops  are  hurrying.    Friedland  was  painted  in 

i875." 

Then,  leading  them  to  the  neighbouring  Defence 
of  Champigny,  another,  but  very  different  battle 
scene,  painted  by  Detaille,  Meissonnier's  favourite 
pupil,  in  1879,  three  years  after  Friedland,  Doodle 
told  them  that  many  critics  consider  the  Defence  of 
Champigny  every  bit  as  great  a  picture  as  Fried- 
land; and  that  it  represents  an  episode  in  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  Opening  the  catalogue 
Doodle  read  them  Detaille's  own  description  of  his 
picture : 

"  '  It  is  the  moment  when  the  division  of  Gen- 
eral Faron  after  having  taken  Champigny  situated 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  223 


above  the  Marne,  fortified  itself  in  the  village  and 
defended,  foot  by  foot,  the  house  and  enclosures 
against  the  return  attack  of  the  Saxony  and  Wiir- 
temberg  divisions  in  the  battle  of  2nd  December, 
1870.  The  chateau  which  I  have  shown  is  one  of 
those  which  are  found  at  the  fork  of  the  two  roads 
at  Chennevieres  —  a  place  well  known  to  those  Prus- 
sians who  took  part  in  the  scenes  of  the  siege  of 
Paris.  The  ofhcer  shown  in  the  centre  of  the 
picture  is  General  Faron,  who  was  appointed  Gen- 
eral of  Division  on  the  field  of  battle.  The  foot 
soldiers  belong  to  the  113th  Regiment  of  the  Line, 
who  lost  a  great  number  in  the  three  days'  fight. 
The  sappers,  who  are  making  the  embrasures  in 
the  wall  to  allow  the  sharpshooters  to  fire  under 
protection,  and  are  barricading  the  opening  with  all 
kinds  of  material;  the  artillerists,  who  are  placing 
the  battery  guns  in  position;  all  likewise  were  un- 
der the  orders  of  General  Faron,  who  at  this  time 
commanded  the  right  wing  of  the  French  army.'  " 

"  I  don't  like  fighting,"  said  Nora,  "  and  so  I 
don't  like  those  pictures  at  all.  I  don't  like  either 
one  of  them." 

"  I  like  the  man  blowing  the  bugle  on  horseback 
in  Friedland,"  said  Jack.    "  I  like  them  both." 

"  Then  let  us  look  at  something  you  will  both 
like  better,"  said  Doodle,  "  oh,  here  is  the  Horse 
Fair!  Rosa  Bonheur  painted  this  splendid  work 
in  1852.  It  was  exhibited  in  several  French  cities. 
At  last  it  was  brought  to  this  country. 

"  Yes;  the  horses  are  life-size  and  they  are  being 
led  by  their  grooms  past  the  judges.  They  are 
perfectly  conscious  that  they  are  on  exhibition." 

"  That  certainly  is  a  fine  picture,"  was  Jack's 
comment. 


224  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  I  think  so,  too,"  Nora  acquiesced. 

"  Do  you  remember  the  story  I  told  you  the 
other  day  about  Joan  of  Arc,  or,  as  the  French  call 
her,  Jeanne  d'  Arc?" 

"  Oh  yes,"  replied  Nora,  "  the  young  girl  called 
the  Maid  of  Orleans,  who  became  a  soldier  and 
saved  France  and  who  was  burned  by  the  English  ?  " 

"  You  can  imagine  the  many  pictures  that  have 
been  painted  of  her;  but  most  of  them  show  her 
as  a  soldier  mounted  perhaps  on  her  horse  and  in 
full  armour.  Here  is  a  very  unusual  one  rep- 
resenting the  strange  French  girl  merely  as  a  sim- 
ple peasant  standing  in  the  garden  of  her  rustic 
cottage.  It  is  by  Bastien-Lepage  (No.  550).  You 
see  the  artist  has  painted  her  in  her  homely  dress 
and  as  a  rude  peasant  without  beauty  or  grace,  but 
see  what  a  peculiar  stare  she  has  in  her  eyes.  They 
gaze  fixedly  upon  the  vision  she  sees  and  which 
appears  to  us  by  reflection  in  the  shrubbery  behind 
her.  Another  thing  remarkable  in  this  celebrated 
work  is  the  beautiful  effect  of  the  light  that  is  dif- 
fused over  the  whole  scene;  and  we  may  even  say 
that  the  air  seems  to  circulate  freely  behind  the 
trees." 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  how  in  the  world  they  can 
paint  light  and  air,"  said  Jack.  "  Could  you  do 
it,  Doodle?" 

"  Indeed,  I  could  not,"  replied  the  latter,  "  but 
I  think  it  is  very  beautiful  when  it  is  accomplished 
—  don't  you?  Now  come  over  here  and  let  us 
look  at  the  light  and  air  in  this  picture.  Let  us 
stand  here  a  moment  and  get  our  eyes  used  to  it. 
It  is  called  The  Balloon,  and  is  by  Jules  Dupre. 
These  French  peasants  were  working  in  this  green 
field  of  new-mown  hay;  they  suddenly  see  a  bal- 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  225 


loon  —  there  it  is  sailing  in  the  clouds !  See  ? 
They  are  perfectly  astonished.  All  the  figures  are 
splendidly  drawn  and  beautifully  painted  and  the 
sunlight  is  exquisite.  See  how  it  touches  the 
woman's  brawny  arm?" 

"  If  I  had  painted  that  picture,"  said  Jack,  "  I 
should  never  have  painted  a  balloon.  I  should  have 
had  an  air-ship." 

"  When  the  artist  painted  that,"  replied  Doodle, 
"in  1886,  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  air-ships 

1  were  not  thought  of  seriously.  But  talking  of 
light  —  here  is  a  painter  of  light  —  Monet;  and 

I  let  us  look  at  Poppy-Held.  With  this  painter,  we 
are  just  about  as  far  from  the  Primitives  as  wre 
can  get;  and  I  think  with  this  picture  we  will  take 
leave  of  this  room." 

Gallery  24  claimed  a  longer  visit  than  the  other 
rooms  because  here  are  hung  many  of  the  most  val- 
uable works  owned  by  the  Museum.  First  they 
looked  at  the  Portrait  of  a  Florentine  Lady  of  the 
Fifteenth  Century,  dressed  in  a  rich  gown,  with  a 
wreath  on  her  flowing  golden  hair,  and  holding  a 
salver  of  fruit  in  her  hands. 

Seeing  that  Jack  and  Nora  were  interested,  Doo- 

1  die  told  them  that  this  was  thought  to  have  been 
painted  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  the  greatest  painter 

!  of  the  Fifteenth  Century,  whose  Mona  Lisa  in  the 
Louvre  is  the  most  famous  portrait  in  the  whole 
world. 

Next  they  stopped  before  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful portraits  in  the  gallery,  by  Van  Dyck,  which 
represents  James  Stuart,  Duke  of  Richmond  and 

1.  Lenox  standing  in  a  graceful  position  with  one  hand 
on  his  hip  and  the  other  resting  on  the  head  of  a 

1  large  greyhound  that  looks  up  into  his  face.  The 


226  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


young  Duke  has  light  curling  hair  that  falls  over  his 
lace  collar  beneath  which  is  a  broad  blue  ribbon 
from  which  a  gold  locket  is  hung.  His  costume  is 
a  rich  figured  black  silk  with  the  Order  of  Saint 
Esprit  on  the  left  shoulder.  His  stockings  are 
white,  and  large  rosettes  ornament  his  dark  shoes. 
Doodle  told  them  that  Van  Dyck  was  one  of  the 
greatest  Flemish  painters,  and  that  he  was  a  pupil 
of  Rubens;  and  that  after  travelling  in  Italy,  he  be- 
came a  marvellous  painter  of  portraits,  went  to 
England  and  was  appointed  court-painter  to 
Charles  L,  who  knighted  him. 

After  enjoying  this  canvas,  Doodle  showed  them 
a  curious  picture  of  the  Madonna  standing  in  a 
Gothic  church  with  the  Child  in  her  arms  and  angel- 
musicians  at  her  side  instead  of  saints,  and  told 
them  that  this  wTas  supposed  to  be  the  Cathedral 
of  Salamanca;  that  this  quaint  picture  was  in 
Spain  for  hundreds  of  years;  and  that  it  was  a 
work  of  the  early  Flemish  School  by  Jacques  Daret 
(called  Maitre  de  Flemalle)  ;  that  the  Flemish  paint- 
ers loved  to  represent  the  Virgin  standing  under 
the  arches  and  columns  of  the  beautiful  Gothic 
churches  and  cathedrals;  and  that  they  loved  also 
to  represent  angels  playing  upon  musical  instru- 
ments of  all  kinds,  or  singing. 

"  This  is  a  '  Primitive,'  "  Doodle  added,  "  but  it 
is  so  valuable  that  it  is  hung  among  the  gems  of 
the  collection.'' 

By  way  of  contrast,  Doodle  next  pointed  out  the 
beautiful  Madonna  and  Child  by  Giovanni  Bellini 
and  explained  that  this  master  was  one  of  the 
greatest  of  Italian  painters;  and  that  his  Madonnas 
have  beautiful  oval  faces  with  serene  tender  ex- 
pressions; always  wear  a  blue  hooded  mantle;  and 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  227 


have  long  necks  and  long  and  large  hands  of  a 
rather  peculiar  shape.  The  little  Jesus  that  she 
holds  so  lovingly  is  always  a  pretty  and  attractive 
baby,  with  a  face  of  intelligence  and  sweetness. 
With  these  hints  they  would  always  know  a  Gio- 
vanni Bellini.  Next,  they  looked  at  a  picture  by 
the  great  Spanish  painter,  Murillo,  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  which  amused  the  children  very  much. 
They  did  not  care  about  the  saint  seated  on  a  rock 
with  a  book  in  his  left  hand  and  a  pen  in  his  out- 
stretched hand;  but  the  eagle  with  the  ink-bottle 
in  his  beak  they  heartily  enjoyed. 

Doodle  then  showed  them  some  of  the  works  of 
the  Dutch  painters,  telling  them  that  they  loved  to 
paint  details  and  scenes  of  every  day  life  —  ladies 
taking  music-lessons,  women  working  in  the  kitchen, 
men  smoking  and  drinking  and  eating  and  laugh- 
ing, and  children  at  play.  They  usually  painted 
on  small  panels,  or  canvases,  and  with  tiny  brushes, 
and  for  that  they  are  called  "  Little  Masters  " ;  and 
"  among  the  Dutch  painters  who  are  known  by  the 
name  of  Little  Masters,"  Doodle  continued,  "  no 
one  takes  higher  rank  than  Vermeer  of  Delft.  He 
painted  very  few  pictures,  but  these  few  are  greatly 
prized.  Vermeer  is  famous  for  his  treatment  of 
light  and  for  his  beautiful  colour.  He  generally 
gives  blue  and  grey  tones.  His  subjects  are  simple. 
He  painted  the  people  he  knew,  and  at  their  ordi- 
nary occupations.  This  one,  for  instance,  shows 
a  Woman  Writing  a  Letter;  and  this  one,  which  is 
considered  one  of  the  gems  of  the  gallery,  shows  a 
Young  Woman  Opening  a  Window  with  one  hand, 
while  with  the  other  she  is  holding  a  brass  jug. 
Her  bodice  is  buff,  her  skirt  dark  blue  and  she 
wears  a  large  white  hood  and  a  linen  collar. 


228  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


Another  picture  by  one  of  the  Little  Masters  that 
they  enjoyed  was  Metsu's  Visit  to  the  Nursery. 
Dirk  Hals's  Children  Playing  Cards  and  Girls  zvith 
a  Cat  also  delighted  both  Jack  and  Nora  hugely. 

"  Here  is  a  master,  claimed  by  both  the  Dutch 
and  Flemish,"  said  Doodle,  "  who  painted  in  what 
is  called  a  broad  style.  I  want  you  to  remember 
the  name  of  Frans  Hals,  because  he  is  one  of  the 
greatest  of  all  portrait  painters." 

Then  they  went  to  study  the  Portrait  of  a  Lady 
and  that  of  Michel  de  Wael,  and  the  two  portraits 
of  Herr  Bodolphe  and  his  wife,  and  Doodle  made 
the  children  stand  a  long  distance  off  and  look  at 
these  works  and  then  come  close  to  the  pictures  and 
see  the  few  slaps  of  paint  that  give  the  illusion  of 
a  hand  or  a  mouth  or  a  nose  or  a  hat,  or  glove,  ruff 
or  cuff.  They  were  perfectly  astonished.  Then 
passing  through  Room  25,  where  a  group  of  mis- 
cellaneous pictures  are  hung,  they  went  to  Room  26 
to  see  Frans  Hals's  great  picture  of  The  Painter 
and  his  Family. 

They  were  rather  tired  by  this  time  and  Doodle 
thought  it  better  to  omit  all  the  other  collections 
on  this  floor. 

As  they  reached  the  grand  stairway,  the  children 
caught  sight  of  the  figures  in  Japanese  armour  in 
the  long  corridor  (No.  8). 

"  Oh !  what  are  these  ?  "  exclaimed  Jack,  fasci- 
nated by  the  fantastic  appearance  of  these  effigies 
of  Oriental  soldiers. 

"  Oh  yes !  let  us  stop  and  look  at  them,"  acqui- 
esced Doodle.  "  Indeed  they  are  most  interesting. 
They  are  specimens  of  Japanese  armour. 

"  In  the  history  of  every  country  there  are 
two  periods  —  one  of  myth  and  legend  before 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  229 


people  begin  to  keep  a  record  of  events  as  they 
occur.  In  their  myths  the  Japanese  say  that  they 
•came  from  the  Sun-God  and  the  Moon-Goddess, 
but  their  real  history  begins  about  the  Fifth  Cen- 
tury. From  the  Twelfth  Century  down  to  about 
1867  the  Japanese  did  not  change  their  habits  or 
customs.  You  know  the  Emperor,  or  Mikado,  who 
ruled  over  the  country,  ranked  first,  and  next  came 
the  barons  who  were  called  dainrios.  The  various 
daimios  had  great  or  small  estates,  and  each  daimio 
was  a  sort  of  little  king  with  subjects  or  tenants  of 
his  own,  of  varying  rank. 

"  In  Old  Japan  the  words  soldier  and  gentleman 
were  one  and  the  same;  and  the  military  class  was 
called  the  Samurai/' 

"  Who  did  they  fight  with?  "  Jack  inquired. 

"  They  fought  the  Coreans ;  they  fought  the 
Chinese ;  and  they  also  fought  each  other ;  and  until 
the  Sixteenth  Century  (when  the  Portuguese 
introduced  fire-arms),  they  fought  with  swords  and 
bows  and  arrows;  and  now  I  suppose  you  would 
like  to  know  something  about  their  armour.  At 
first  they  wore  leather  armour  and  afterwards  ar- 
mour of  bronze  and  other  metal. 

"  This  one,  for  instance,  is  one  of  the  earliest 
suits  and  dates  from  about  the  year  1000,  or,  if  you 
like  better,  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago!  The 
coat-of-mail  is  made  of  boiled  leather  which  is 
arranged  so  as  to  look  like  fish-scales.  The  shoul- 
der guards  are  also  of  boiled  leather  and  so  is  the 
mask,  which  represents  a  Tengu,  or  god  of  the 
mountain. 

"  Now  this  suit  was  made  nearly  three  hundred 
years  later  and  dates  from  1280.  This  is  a  com- 
plete suit  of  iron  covered  with  black  lacquer.  In- 


230  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


stead  of  leather  scales  bands  of  metal  are  now  used. 
Do  you  notice  the  little  brown  rabbit  on  the  helmet? 

"  The  idea  of  a  Japanese  soldier  was  to  look  as 
ferocious  as  possible,  and  that  is  why  these  suits  of 
armour  that  we  are  now  looking  at  are  so  terrible. 

"  The  most  elaborate  armour  was  made  of  metal 
scales  and  plates  tied  together  with  ornamental 
cords  of  coloured  silk  or  leather.  These  cords  were 
of  the  greatest  importance.  Now,  for  instance,  this 
suit  dating  from  1630  has  fastenings  of  white  silk. 
White  is  the  colour  of  mourning  and  the  man  who 
wore  this  believed  that  he  would  perish  in  the  serv- 
ice. Here  is  another  suit  lacquered  in  red  —  the 
colour  of  the  fire  demon,  and  dates  from  about  1600. 

u  In  Japanese  armour  the  helmet  was  often  orna- 
mented with  a  dragon  or  crest  of  some  kind  rising 
from  the  centre,  or  a  decoration  branching  out  on 
each  side  like  the  horns  of  some  animal.  The  Jap- 
anese helmet  was  intended  to  give  the  warrior  a 
fierce  and  grotesque  appearance,  and  this  was  inten- 
sified by  lining  the  inside  with  red  to  reflect  the 
face.  The  face  was  also  protected  by  a  kind  of 
visor  or  mask  which  was  separate  from  the  helmet 
and  attached  to  it  by  strings.  Sometimes  it  cov- 
ered the  whole  face  having  holes  for  the  eyes  and 
nostrils  and  sometimes  only  the  cheeks  and  face 
below  the  nose.  The  masks  were  named  accord- 
ing to  the  kind  of  countenance  that  they  repre- 
sented—  swallow-face,  monkey- face,  old  man's 
face,  wrinkled  face,  woman's  face,  young  boy's 
face,  ghost,  evil  demon,  female  demon,  Corean's 
face,  all  of  which  were  intended  to  give  a  hideous 
and  deceptive  appearance  to  the  wearer.  Some- 
times hair  —  black,  red  or  grey  —  was  placed  on 


METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM  231 


upper  lip,  chin  and  cheeks  of  the  mask  or  hair  was 
painted  on  the  metal. 

"  You  can  imagine  that  those  who  owned  such 
splendid  suits  of  armour  valued  them  highly  and 
took  great  care  of  them.  Every  separate  piece  was 
wrapped  carefully  in  silk,  or  cloth-of-gold,  and  was 
then  placed  in  a  rich  chest  of  lacquer  or  costly 
wood  and  decorated  with  bronze  or  gilt  ornaments. 
This  handsome  coffer  was  in  turn  encased  in  a  big 
leather  box,  also  decorated  with  bronze;  and  it  is 
because  of  the  great  care  the  Japanese  took  of 
their  armour  that  suits  have  been  preserved  for  cen- 
turies. 

"  There  —  see  they  are  beginning  to  close  the 
museum  —  so  we  really  must  hurry  away." 

"  What  a  fine  afternoon  we  have  had,"  said  Nora. 
"  I  enjoyed  it  so  much." 

"  I  think  I  liked  the  Natural  History  Museum 
better/ '  said  Jack. 

"  Oh,  I  didn't,"  said  Nora,  "  I  like  the  pictures." 


CHAPTER  X 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  PARKS 

IN  WHICH  DOODLE  POINTS  OUT  THE  HISTORICAL 
LANDMARKS  AND  DELIGHTS  THE  CHILDREN  WITH 
SOME  ROMANTIC  STORIES  OF  THE  HUDSON  RIVER 
UNTIL  THE  GOBLIN  OF  THE  DUNDERBERG  CALLS 
UP  A  THUNDERSTORM  THAT  SENDS  THEM  SCUR- 
RYING HOME. 

"  Morningside  Park  is  much  larger  than  it 
seems,"  said  Doodle,  one  afternoon  when  the  happy 
trio  stood  looking  over  the  parapet  above  the  wide 
stairway  across  the  sea  of  houses  that  stretches  far 
away  into  the  distance.  "  It  is  half  a  mile  long, 
and,  though  it  is  very  narrow,  it  contains  thirty- 
two  acres.  We  are  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Bloom- 
ingdale  Heights.  South  of  us  lies  Central  Park, 
and  on  our  right,  the  Cathedral  of  St.  John  the 
Divine.  We  are  now  looking  over  the  battlefield 
of  Harlem  Heights.  Shall  I  tell  you  something 
about  that  battle?"  Without  waiting  for  permis- 
sion, Doodle  continued : 

"  During  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  September, 
1776,  it  was  decided  that  the  American  Army  should 
move  northward;  and  so,  on  the  13th  of  that  month, 
a  rear  guard  of  4,000  men  was  left  in  New  York 
under  General  Putnam,  while  the  main  body  of  the 
American  army,  followed  by  a  number  of  American 

232 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  233 


families,  moved  towards  Mount  Washington  and 
Kingsbridge. 

"  General  Washington  made  his  headquarters  at 
the  Apthorpe  House  on  the  Bloomingdale  Road. — 
But  wait  a  minute,  I  must  tell  you  something  about 
Bloomingdale.  Bloomingdale  was  originally  an 
old  Dutch  estate  along  the  Hudson  River  above 
Seventy-seventh  Street;  and  the  Bloomingdale 
Road  ran  along  from  the  lower  part  of  the  city  to 
Harlem.  It  was  described  as  '  a  country  drive  of 
unsurpassed  beauty  up  hill  and  down  dale,  varied 
with  many  a  curve  and  at  short  intervals  enlivened 
with  an  enchanting  view  of  the  Hudson.'  The  Ap- 
thorpe House,  the  home  of  a  rich  English  gentle- 
man, was  situated  at  what  is  now  Columbus  Avenue, 
between  Ninetieth  and  Ninety-first  Streets. 

"  Well,  to  resume  the  story :  —  as  the  troops 
marched  along,  a  sort  of  skirmish  with  the  British 
took  place ;  and  when  General  Washington  heard 
the  firing,  he  jumped  on  his  horse  and  rode  down 
the  Bloomingdale  Road  into  the  Kingsbridge 
Road  and  reached  a  cornfield  where  the  frightened 
soldiers  came  flying  along.  He  tried  to  bring  them 
to  order,  but  the  panic  was  too  great;  and  so  Gen- 
eral Washington  was  forced  to  order  a  retreat. 
Under  the  guidance  of  Major  Aaron  Burr,  how- 
ever, the  scared  soldiers  reached  Harlem  safely; 
and  Washington  then  selected  as  his  headquarters 
the  house  of  his  old  friend,  Col.  Roger  Morris,  who, 
having  remained  true  to  the  British,  had  fled  into 
the  Highlands  on  the  Hudson.  His  house  is  still 
standing  on  169th  Street,  not  far  from  High 
Bridge.  Washington's  army  was,  therefore,  on 
Harlem  Heights,  and  the  British  army,  on  Bloom- 
ingdale Heights;  and  the  two  hostile  camps  were 


234  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


divided  by  Harlem  Plains.  We  looked  over  part 
of  this  scene  some  time  ago,  you  remember,  when 
we  took  a  drive  in  the  cab  around  the  Concourse 
in  Central  Park;  and  now  we  are  looking  upon  it 
again,  from  another  point  of  view. 

"  The  British  General,  Howe,  made  the  Beekman 
House  on  Turtle  Bay  (East  River  between  44th 
and  46th  Streets),  his  headquarters,  and  his  troops 
were  encamped  in  a  line  extending  from  Horn's 
Hook  (89th  Street)  across  the  island  to  Bloom- 
ingdale. 

"  After  spending  the  night  out  of  doors  on  Har- 
lem Heights,  the  American  troops  were  informed 
the  next  morning  that  the  British  were  approach- 
ing by  McGowan's  Pass  (you  remember  we  were 
there  ourselves  in  Central  Park)  to  Harlem  Plains 
and  they  bravely  met  them  at  a  rocky  gorge  and 
held  it  until  re-inforcements  came.  General  Wash- 
ington, who  was  at  the  Morris  house,  rode  to  his 
outpost  and  gave  orders  to  Colonel  Knowlton  to 
take  his  Connecticut  Rangers  with  Major  Leitch's 
three  Virginia  companies  to  the  rear  of  the  enemy, 
while  a  pretended  attack  should  be  made  in  the 
front.  The  battle  was  short  but  severe.  The 
British  were  triumphant,  and  so  General  Washing- 
ton thought  it  best  to  order  a  retreat.  During  the 
conflict  both  Colonel  Knowlton  and  Major  Leitch 
were  killed.  Bravely  fighting,  they  fell  right  here 
in  Morningside  Park  —  about  Ninth  Avenue  and 
One  Hundred  and  Nineteenth  Street." 

"  What  became  of  the  British  after  that?"  Jack 
inquired. 

"  They  strengthened  McGowan's  Pass  and  placed 
strong  pickets  —  you  know  what  pickets  are  —  in 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  235 


front  of  their  lines,  and  brought  around  vessels  to 
guard  them  in  the  Harlem  and  Hudson  rivers." 

"  What  did  Washington  do?  " 

"  He  stayed  on  Harlem  Heights  for  three  weeks, 
and  then  took  his  army  into  the  Highlands  of  the 
Hudson." 

"  Did  they  have  any  more  battles?"  asked  the 
bloodthirsty  Jack. 

"  Oh  please  don't  tell  us  anything  more  about 
fighting,"  pleaded  Nora,  "  I  don't  like  battles." 

"Yes;  there  was  the  Battle  of  White  Plains  in 
October;  but  I  am  not  going  to  tell  you  about  that 
now;  for  we  want  to  cross  over  to  Riverside  Park." 

Walking  up  Morningside  Avenue,  to  One  Hun- 
dred and  Sixteenth  Street,  they  soon  found  them- 
selves passing  Columbia  University.  As  the  chil- 
dren wanted  to  know  something  about  the  history 
of  this  institution,  Doodle  told  them  that  Columbia 
was  originally  a  British  school,  known  as  King's 
College  until  the  Revolution,  when,  of  course,  it 
became  American. 

"  King's  College  was  a  riverside  college  just  as 
Columbia  now  is,"  continued  Doodle.  "  The  orig- 
inal building  occupied  the  land  between  Murray 
Street,  Barclay  Street,  Church  Street  and  West 
Broadway,  and  the  ground  sloped  down  to  the  Hud- 
son River.  In  1775,  the  building  was  used  for  a 
British  Prison.  After  the  Revolution  its  name  was 
changed  to  Columbia,  and  in  1857  the  college  re- 
moved to  Madison  Avenue  and  49th  Street.  Now 
Columbia  again  overlooks  the  Hudson. 

"  Well,  never  mind  Columbia  University  and  its 
fine  buildings,  for  here  we  are  in  Riverside  Drive, 
which  follows  Riverside  Park  from  Seventy-second 


236  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


to  One  Hundred  and  Thirtieth  Street.  It  is  con- 
tinued beyond  the  Park  to  One  Hundred  and  Fifty- 
second  Street.  Riverside  Park  is  much  larger  than 
Morningside  Park,  you  see.  The  two  features  of 
the  Park  are  the  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Monument, 
and  Grant's  Tomb  which  is  now  looming  up  before 
us. 

"  The  only  mausoleums  to  which  Grant's  Tomb 
may  be  compared,"  Doodle  went  on  to  say,  "  are 
Napoleon's  in  the  Hotel  des  Invalides  in  Paris, 
where  that  great  general  sleeps  on  the  banks  of  the 
Seine  just  as  the  American  hero  sleeps  on  the  shores 
of  the  Hudson,  and  the  wonderful  Taj  Mahal  at 
Agra,  under  whose  dome  lie  the  bodies  of  Shah 
Jehan  and  his  wife.  The  bodies  of  General  Grant 
and  his  wife  rest  here  in  two  red  porphyry  sar- 
cophagi. You  can  see  the  two  big  stone  coffins 
from  a  circular  opening  in  the  main  floor,  and  you 
can  go  down  into  the  crypt,  if  you  like.  Shall  we 
go  inside  ?  " 

"  I  don't  want  to,"  said  Nora. 

"  Neither  do  I,"  Jack  assented.  "  It  is  so  nice 
outside." 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  some  more  about  the  Tomb, 

then?" 

"  Oh  yes ;  and  about  General  Grant,  too,"  the 
children  replied  together.  "  Well,  then,  in  the  first 
place  this  great  Tomb  was  paid  for  by  the  people 
of  the  United  States;  some  of  them  subscribed 
thousands  of  dollars  and  others  only  a  few  cents; 
and  it  took  many  years  to  build  this  great  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  the  great  American  general, 
who  brought  the  terrible  war  between  the  North 
and  South  to  a  close. 

"  The  Tomb  was  finally  completed  and  dedicated 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  237 


on  April  27,  1897,  with  impressive  ceremonies. 
There  were  also  a  big  naval  parade  and  a  military 
parade.  The  Mayor  of  New  York  made  a  speech 
in  accepting  the  monument  on  behalf  of  the  city; 
President  McKinley  made  an  address  and  General 
Horace  Porter  another ;  and  there  were  flowers  and 
wreaths  and  music  and  crowds  of  people.  Many 
distinguished  guests  were  also  present,  and  all  of 
General  Grant's  family  including  Mrs.  Grant,  who 
now  lies  beside  him." 

The  children  were  too  fascinated  by  the  charm 
of  the  lovely  river  sparkling  and  shining  in  the  sun- 
light which  touched  the  trees  on  the  opposite  hills, 
and  which  was  so  gay  with  sailboats  and  yachts 
and  excursion  boats,  to  wish  to  leave  it  for  a  mo- 
ment. Heavy  clouds,  however,  were  gathering  in 
the  west,  and  occasionally  the  Palisades  in  the  dis- 
tance were  darkened  by  a  floating  cloud ;  but  this 
play  of  light  and  shade  only  added  to  the  charm 
of  the  afternoon.  Jack  and  Nora  now  asked  Doo- 
dle to  tell  them  something  about  the  river.  Doodle 
suggesting  that  they  should  seat  themselves  com- 
fortably on  one  of  the  benches,  began : 

"  In  the  far  distance  to  the  north,  almost 
directly  ahead  of  us  at  about  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-sixth,  and  One  Hundred  and 
Eightieth  Streets,  lies  Fort  Washington,  which 
in  Revolutionary  days  was  a  strong  earthwork 
covering  several  acres  with  a  sort  of  citadel 
inside  which  contained  the  powder  magazine. 
Fort  Washington  was  a  strong  fort  in  its  day  be- 
cause it  mounted  twenty  cannons  besides  smaller 
pieces,  while  the  redoubt  beyond  it  at  Jeffrey's  Hook, 
Fort  Tryon  (at  about  One  Hundred  and  Ninety- 
fifth  and  One  Hundred  and  Ninety-sixth  Streets) 


238  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


had  only  two  guns.  Still  further  along  the  river, 
at  Spuyten  Duyvil  Kill  (Two  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
seventh  Street)  there  stood  another  little  fort  of 
only  two  guns,  called  Cock  Hill  Fort. 

"  Nearly  opposite  Fort  Washington  lies  Fort 
Lee,  or  Fort  Constitution;  and  three  or  four  miles 
below  Fort  Lee  at  the  base  of  the  Palisades,  was,  in 
Revolutionary  times,  a  little  village  called  Bull's 
Ferry.  Below  the  village  on  Block  House  Point 
stood  a  block  house,  which  General  Wayne  at- 
tacked on  one  occasion  when  he  captured  some 
cattle;  and  the  witty  Major  Andre  made  fun  of  this 
expedition  in  his  poem  called  The  Cow  Chase. 
General  Knyphausen  held  Fort  Washington  at  this 
time  and  Lord  Cornwallis  held  Fort  Lee. 

"  Our  river  is  not  only  famous  for  the  historic 
events  that  took  place  on  its  banks,  but  for  its  beau- 
tiful scenery,  which  has  inspired  many  quaint  and 
romantic  legends.  Its  waters  travel  the  long  dis- 
tance of  three  hundred  miles  to  reach  the  ocean. 
Henry  Hudson,  whose  name  it  now  bears,  appro- 
priately called  it  "  the  River  of  the  Mountains.'* 
Its  Indian  name  was  Shatemuc.  The  Dutch  called 
it  Mauritus,  for  Prince  Maurice  of  Nassau,  and 
the  North  River,  because  it  formed  the  north  bound- 
ary of  their  possessions.  As  we  look  north,  the 
Palisades  extend  on  the  west  bank  from  Hoboken 
to  Piermont,  nearly  opposite  Dobb's  Ferry  on  the 
east  bank;  and  there  the  river  spreads  out  into  the 
beautiful  Tappan  Zee.  Beyond  this  is  Haverstraw 
Bay,  and  beyond  that  the  Highlands  —  a  cluster 
of  wild,  thickly  wooded,  rock-ribbed,  and  pictur- 
esque mountains.  Beyond  these  again  and  to  the 
west  are  the  famous  Katzbergs,  or  Catskill  (Cats- 
creek),  Mountains,  which  the  Indians  called  by  a 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  239 


prettier  name  —  Onti-Ora,  meaning  Mountains  of 
the  Sky. 

"And  so  the  beautiful  river  above  which  we  are 
now  walking  comes  down  from  the  hills,  passing 
places  that  have  witnessed  stirring  deeds  and  bat- 
tles, and  whose  names  are  familiar  in  song  and 
story  and  legend.  True  or  not,  everybody  associ- 
ates Spuyten  Dyvil  with  Washington  Irving's  story 
of  Governor  Stuyvesant's  trumpeter,  Anthony  Van 
Corlear,  who  lost  his  life  while  attempting  to  swim 
across  the  river  at  this  point,  in  spite  of  the  devil. 
Stranger  than  he,  is  a  little  Dutch  goblin  who  is  said 
to  haunt  the  Dunderberg  (Thunder  Mountain)  in 
the  Highlands.  He  wrears  trunk  hose  and  a  peaked 
cap  and  has  a  speaking  trumpet  in  his  hand,  through 
which  he  gives  orders  in  Dutch  for  fresh  gusts  of 
wind  and  sharp  thunder  claps.  At  his  command 
many  little  goblins  play  all  sorts  of  tricks  on  the 
sailors  when  the  storms  are  raging  on  the  river. 

"  But  you  don't  have  to  go  as  far  up  the  river 
as  the  Dunderberg  to  see  phantoms,"  continued 
Doodle,  noting  the  look  of  intense  interest  in  the 
eyes  of  both  Jack  and  Nora.  "  A  Phantom  Ship, 
for  instance,  comes  down  as  far  as  Hoboken.  Yes ; 
past  the  very  part  of  the  river  we  are  looking  upon. 
Shall  I  tell  you  about  her?  "  The  children  nodded 
and  Doodle  went  on  as  follows : 

"  One  summer  afternoon  some  three  hundred 
years  ago,  great  purple  clouds  gathered  over  the 
little  town  of  New  Amsterdam,  clustered  round  the 
Fort,  with  its  tiny  houses  and  gardens  and  canals 
and  its  few  sail  boats  lying  at  their  wharves.  These 
purple  clouds  grew  darker  and  darker  until  they 
became  almost  black,  and  the  waves  came  rolling 
in  from  the  Bay  and  the  wind  blew  hard,  and  the 


24D  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


yellow  lightning  cut  through  the  sky,  and  the  thun- 
der crashed  and  banged,  and  everybody  was  terri- 
fied. You  have  seen  just  such  storms  in  New  York 
in  the  summer.  After  an  hour  or  so,  the  storm 
gradually  subsided  and  finally  ceased  altogether  and 
the  setting  sun  broke  through  the  clouds  and  turned 
all  the  waves  that  were  still  running  high  and  beat- 
ing against  the  Battery  to  ruby  and  gold  and  ame- 
thyst. Then,  all  of  a  sudden,  in  this  fairy-like 
light,  a  ship  was  seen  coming  up  the  Bay.  She 
was  a  big  Dutch  ship  with  a  high  poop  and  bore  the 
Dutch  colours  at  her  mast  head.  All  her  sails  were 
set  and  bellying  with  the  wind,  and  what  was  most 
strange  of  all  was  that  she  was  sailing  against  the 
wind  and  tide. 

"  All  the  people  came  out  of  their  little  houses 
to  look  at  her  and  she  was  hailed  from  the  Fort — 
but  she  made  no  reply.  She  took  no  notice  of  any- 
thing or  anybody,  but  went  flying  up  the  Hudson. 
Then  some  of  the  men  got  a  boat  and  rowed  after 
her,  but  just  as  soon  as  they  got  near  her  —  she 
seemed  to  fly  like  the  wind  and  get  half  a  mile 
away.  When  they  finally  succeeded  in  getting  near 
enough  to  see  the  crew,  they  noticed  that  every- 
body was  dressed  in  the  Dutch  style,  the  officers 
wearing  doublets,  high  hats  and  feathers.  Not  a 
word  was  spoken  by  anyone  on  board ;  indeed,  they 
all  stood  motionless  as  statues.  The  ship  seemed 
to  be  managing  herself  —  she  kept  on  flying  up  the 
river,  getting  smaller  and  smaller  in  the  evening 
sunlight,  until  at  length  she  disappeared  altogether. 

"  The  people  of  Manhattan  were  very  much  puz- 
zled. They  talked  over  the  strange  occurrence ;  but 
they  shook  their  heads  —  they  could  not  under- 
stand it  at  all. 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  241 


"  Day  after  day  and  week  after  week  went  by, 
but  the  Phantom  Ship  never  came  back  down  the 
Hudson.  Captains  of  sloops  seldom  arrived  with- 
out having  some  tale  to  tell  about  that  Phantom 
Ship:  sometimes  she  was  seen  near  the  Palisades; 
sometimes  off  Croton  Point;  and  sometimes  skirt- 
ing the  Highlands;  but  she  was  never  seen  above 
the  Highlands.  Sometimes  they  saw  her  during  a 
thunderstorm,  when  a  flash  of  lightning  showed 
her  flying  across  the  Tappan  Zee,  or  over  the  angry 
waves  of  Haverstraw  Bay.    Irving  says : 

"  i  At  one  moment  she  would  appear  close  upon 
them,  as  if  likely  to  run  them  down,  and  would 
throw  them  into  great  bustle  and  alarm;  but  the 
next  flash  would  show  her  far  off,  always  sailing 
against  the  wind.  Sometimes  in  quiet  moonlight 
she  would  be  seen  under  some  high  bluff  of  the 
Highlands,  all  in  deep  shadow,  excepting  her  top- 
sails glittering  in  the  moonbeams ;  by  the  time,  how- 
1  ever,  that  the  voyagers  reached  the  place,  no  ship 
was  to  be  seen;  and  when  they  had  passed  on  for 
some  distance  and  looked  back,  behold !  there  she 
1  was  again,  with  her  top-sails  in  the  moonshine !  ' 
At  least  that  was  the  tale  the  skippers  told. 

"  One  strange  thing  about  this  boat  was  that  she 
was  never  seen  except  just  before  or  after  a  storm ; 
and  for  this  reason  the  skippers  of  the  Hudson 
called  her  the  Storm  Ship. 

"  Even  now  she  is  supposed  to  come  down  the 
;  river  as  far  as  Weehawken  and  Hoboken;  but  she 
particularly  haunts  the  Tappan  Zee,  the  Highlands 
and  Point-no-Point.  People  who  live  along  the 
river  fancy  that  they  see  her  on  moonlight  nights 
and  think  they  hear  the  singing  of  the  crew." 

"  What  do  they  say  the  ship  is?  "  asked  Jack. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


"  Some  people  say  it  is  the  Flying  Dutchman; 
others,  that  it  is  the  Half-Moon,  with  Henry 
Hudson  and  his  crew,  going  to,  or  returning  from, 
their  revels  in  the  Catskill  Mountains." 

"What  did  they  do  in  the  Catskills,  Doodle ?" 
asked  Nora. 

"  Why,  they  played  ninepins.  Don't  you  re- 
member the  story  of  Rip  Van  Winkle?  " 

"  No,  I  don't  remember  it,"  Nora  answered. 

"  Well,  perhaps  Jack  will  tell  it  to  us  ?  " 

"  No,  I  can't  tell  it,"  said  Jack.  "  All  I  know 
is  that  Rip  Van  Winkle  went  to  sleep  and  slept  for 
a  hundred  years;  but  I  don't  remember  about  the 
ninepins.    Won't  you  tell  us  the  story,  Doodle  ?  " 

"  All  right,  I  will.  We  will  sit  here  on  this  bench 
and  look  on  the  beautiful  Hudson,  the  very  waters 
of  which  have  just  come  down  from  those  haunted 
mountains,  where  poor  old  Rip  slept  for  twenty  — 
not  a  hundred  —  years,  Jack." 

"  Well,  then  I'll  begin.  A  few  years  before  the 
Revolution,  while  New  York  was  under  the  British 
rule,  there  lived  in  a  little  Dutch  village  at  the  foot 
of  the  Catskill  Mountains,  a  simple-hearted,  good 
natured  man,  named  Rip  Van  Winkle.  Everybody 
was  fond  of  him  except  his  wife;  and  perhaps  she 
had  some  reason  on  her  side  because  Rip  was 
very  lazy,  and  spent  most  of  his  time  at  the  tavern; 
and  when  not  there,  talking  with  his  neighbours  or 
playing  with  the  children  of  the  village.  He  let 
his  farm  dwindle  away,  acre  by  acre,  until  he  only 
had  a  little  patch  of  ground  left;  and  this  little  patch 
of  Indian  corn  and  potatoes  was  full  of  weeds. 
The  fence  was  all  dropping  to  pieces;  and  it  was 
the  most  dilapidated  place  in  the  neighbourhood. 
His  two  ragged  children,  Rip  and  Judith,  ran  wild; 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  243 


and  his  wife's  terrible  temper  grew  worse.  Every- 
body took  sides  with  Rip  Van  Winkle  because  he 
was  so  amiable,  and  blamed  everything  that  went 
wrong  on  Dame  Van  Winkle. 

"  The  village  children  screamed  with  joy  when- 
ever Rip  was  seen :  he  played  games  with  them ; 
he  told  them  long  stories  about  witches  and  Indians 
and  ghosts;  he  taught  them  how  to  fly  kites  and 
shoot  marbles;  and  they  followed  him  wherever  he 
went,  hanging  on  to  his  coat,  climbing  on  his  back 
and  playing  all  sorts  of  tricks  on  him.  All  the 
dogs  of  the  village  liked  him,  too ;  and  his  own  dog, 
Wolf,  was  his  constant  companion,  and  shared  in 
many  a  scolding  from  Dame  Van  Winkle.  Some- 
times Rip  would  take  a  gun  and  stroll  into  the  woods 
with  Wolf. 

"  One  beautiful  autumn  day  Rip  and  Wolf  went 
out  squirrel-shooting,  and  they  gradually  climbed 
the  top  of  one  of  the  mountains.  Rip  was  tired  and 
laid  himself  down  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice. 
In  the  distance  he  saw  the  Hudson  river  lighted  by 
rays  of  the  setting  sun  and  he  began  to  think  how 
late  it  would  be  before  he  could  get  home.  What  a 
scolding  he  would  receive  from  Dame  Van  Winkle ! 

"  As  he  was  about  to  go,  he  heard  a  voice  calling: 
'  Rip  Van  Winkle !    Rip  Van  Winkle  ! ' 

"  Rip  was  perfectly  astonished.  The  call  was 
repeated.  Then  Wolf  bristled  up,  gave  a  low 
growl,  and  peered  fearfully  down  into  the  glen. 

"  Rip  was  now  frightened  himself ;  for,  looking 
in  the  same  direction  that  Wolf  was  staring,  he 
saw  a  strange  figure  climbing  the  rocks,  bending 
under  the  weight  of  something  on  his  back,  a  pe- 
culiar-looking creature  —  short  and  squat,  with 
thick  bushy  hair  and  a  long  grey  beard,  dressed  in 


244  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


the  old  Dutch  style  —  a  cloth  jerkin  with  a  leather 
belt  and  baggy  breeches  with  buttons  down  the  sides 
and  bunches  of  ribbon  at  the  knees.  He  bore  a 
keg  on  his  shoulder,  and  made  signs  to  Rip  to  come 
and  help  him  carry  it. 

"  Rip  did  so;  and  as  they  clambered  up  the  moun- 
tains, every  now  and  then  long  rolls  of  what  Rip 
thought  was  thunder  were  heard.  Presently  they 
reached  a  wide  cleared  space  —  and  what  do  you 
think  Rip  saw?  A  company  of  persons  like  his 
guide,  playing  ninepins. 

"  They  certainly  were  a  peculiar  lot.  One  of 
them  had  a  big  head  and  little  eyes  like  a  pig;  and 
another  had  an  enormous  nose  and  wore  a  great 
white  hat  shaped  like  a  tall  cone  and  ornamented 
with  a  little  red  cock's  feather.  All  had  long 
beards.  The  tallest,  who  seemed  to  be  the  com- 
mander, wore  a  doublet,  a  broad  belt,  a  high  crowned 
hat  and  feather,  red  stockings  and  high-heeled  shoes 
with  big  rosettes  in  them.  All  were  very  grave  and 
silent.  Not  a  word  was  spoken,  and  not  a  sound 
was  heard  except  the  rolling  of  the  balls. 

"  As  Rip  and  his  guide  approached,  they  stopped 
playing  and  gazed  at  Rip  with  such  a  fixed  stare 
that  his  heart  almost  stopped  beating  and  his  knees 
knocked  together.  Rip's  guide  now  emptied  the 
keg  into  large  flagons,  and  made  signs  that  he 
should  wait  upon  the  others.  Rip  was  too  fright- 
ened not  to  obey;  and,  after  they  had  all  enjoyed  a 
good  drink,  they  began  to  bowl  again;  but  not  a 
word  had  broken  the  terrible  silence. 

"  Pretty  soon  Rip  took  a  taste  for  himself.  It 
was  good  Holland  gin,  so  he  tasted  some  more 
when  the  others  were  not  looking,  and  then  more, 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  245 


and  more,  and  more,  until  finally  he  dropped  into 
a  deep  sleep. 

"  When  he  awoke,  he  found  himself  on  the  green 
knoll  where  he  had  first  seen  the  old  man  coming 
up  the  glen.  The  morning  was  bright  and  the  birds 
were  twittering.  Rip  was  surprised  to  think  that 
he  had  slept  the  night  through  after  his  experience 
with  the  party  playing  ninepins.  He  felt  very  stiff 
and  he  was  amazed  to  see  how  long  his  beard  had 
grown.  When  he  picked  up  his  gun,  the  rusty  old 
thing  dropped  to  pieces.  Then  he  whistled  and 
shouted  for  Wolf ;  but  no  Wolf  appeared  in  re- 
sponse. 

"  Though  dreading  to  meet  his  wife,  Rip  picked 
up  his  old  gun  and  hobbled  down  the  mountain. 
The  path  by  which  he  had  ascended,  however,  was 
now  so  overgrown  that  he  could  hardly  find  his  way. 
How  strange ! 

"  As  he  entered  the  village,  he  saw  a  number  of 
unfamiliar  faces,  and  everybody  was  wearing  clothes 
of  a  new  fashion  that  Rip  had  never  seen.  Every- 
body stared  at  him  in  such  a  peculiar  way.  What 
could  it  all  mean  ?  The  village  had  entirely  changed 
in  the  night!  There  were  rows  and  rows  of  new 
houses  and  new  signs  and  names  were  to  be  seen  on 
all  sides. 

"Of  course,  the  first  thing  Rip  did  was  to  go 
home ;  but  to  his  surprise  the  roof  had  fallen  in  and 
all  the  windows  were  broken  and  there  was  no 
Vrouw  Van  Winkle  to  be  seen,  or  heard. 

"  Then  Rip  hurried  off  to  the  tavern ;  and  this, 
too,  was  changed.  Instead  of  the  old  sign,  with  a 
portrait  of  King  George  the  Third,  there  was  one 
of  General  Washington  in  blue  and  buff,  with  a 

1 


246  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


cocked  hat ;  and  in  the  place  of  the  big  tree  beneath 
which  Rip  was  accustomed  to  smoke  his  pipe  there 
stood  a  tall  Liberty  Pole  from  which  fluttered  a  flag 
of  stars  and  stripes  that  he  had  never  seen  before. 

"  Rip  could  not  understand  it  at  all.  What  a 
change  since  last  night.  He  asked  for  his  old 
friends  and  was  told  that  some  were  dead,  and 
some  had  gone  away.  Then  he  could  not  under- 
stand what  the  people  were  talking  about.  He  had 
never  heard  about  Bunker  Hill,  the  heroes  of  '76, 
elections,  congress,  liberty  and  all  such  topics. 

"  Then  he  couldn't  understand  why  nobody  knew 
him.  After  a  time  he  noticed  a  young  woman 
carrying  a  little  boy  in  her  arms,  whom  she  called 
'  Rip ' ;  and  on  asking  her  who  she  was,  she  told 
him  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  Rip  Van  Winkle, 
who  had  gone  into  the  Catskill  Mountains  twenty 
years  ago  and  had  never  been  heard  of  since.  Rip 
then  explained  that  he  was  her  father;  and  when 
Judith  was  really  satisfied  that  this  was  true,  she 
took  him  home  to  live  with  her,  her  husband  and  the 
little  grandchild  who  was  named  for  him.  Cross 
old  Mrs.  Rip  was  dead;  and  Rip  lived  happily  ever 
afterwards. 

"  So  that  is  the  famous  story  of  Rip  Van  Winkle, 
and  I  must  add  that  the  people  who  live  on  the 
Hudson  like  to  fancy,  when  they  hear  the  thunder, 
that  Henry  Hudson  and  his  crew  are  playing  nine- 
pins in  the  mountains." 

"  What  became  of  Wolf  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Wolf  ?  Oh !  Rip's  daughter  told  him  that  Wolf 
came  home  the  morning  after  Rip  disappeared." 

"  Listen,"  said  Jack,  "  listen !  Don't  you  hear 
them  playing  ninepins  now  ?  " 

"  I  certainly  do,"  answered  Doodle,  as  a  long 


MORNINGSIDE  AND  RIVERSIDE  247 


heavy  roll  of  thunder  resounded  in  the  distance, 
"  and,  moreover,  the  black  clouds  are  gathering 
fast.  The  Goblin  of  the  Dunderberg  is  evidently 
calling  up  a  storm,  so  I  think  we  had  better  stop  the 
next  stage  and  get  home  as  fast  as  we  can." 
"  So  do  I,"  said  Nora. 

"  Here  it  comes!  "  cried  Jack,  "  here  it  comes!  " 


CHAPTER  XI 


A  TRIP  TO  THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY 

in  which  jack  and  nora  enjoy  a  blow  on  the 
bay;  visit  the  eighth  wonder  of  the  world; 
and  are  reminded  by  doodle  that  the  great 
city  of  new  york  was  once  the  little  town 
of  new  amsterdam. 

"  Jack !  Jack,"  called  Nora  excitedly,  one  bright 
afternoon  as  she  looked  out  of  the  window. 
"  There's  the  red  flag!" 

"  Oh,  jolly !  "  cried  Jack.  "  Let  me  see !  "  He 
ran  to  look ;  and,  in  a  few  minutes,  they  were  across 
the  street  in  Doodle's  study. 

Perhaps  you  have  guessed  that  the  red  flag  was 
a  signal.  You  are  right.  It  was.  In  fact  there 
were  three  signals  —  three  pretty  little  silk  flags 
made  by  Nora's  skilful  little  fingers.  One  was  a 
yellow  flag,  with  N.  for  Nora,  worked  in  the  upper 
left-hand  corner;  the  second,  was  red,  with  J.  in 
the  corner,  for  Jack;  and  the  third  was  light  blue, 
with  D.,  for  Doodle,  in  the  same  corner.  When 
Doodle  placed  the  yellow  flag  upon  the  window- 
sill  in  the  little  stand  that  Jack  had  made  for  the 
pole,  which  was  about  the  size  of  a  lead  pencil, 
the  children  knew  they  could  come  over  whenever 
they  pleased,  or  not  at  all,  as  they  pleased;  when 
Doodle's  flag  was  hoisted,  they  were  forbidden  to 
come  under  pain  of  death,  for  it  told  them  that 

248 


THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  249 


Doodle  was  at  work  and  could  not  be  disturbed; 
but  when  Jack's  red  flag  appeared,  it  conveyed  the 
message :  "  Hurry  across,  for  I  want  to  see  you  at 
once.    Special  and  important  business  !  " 

Therefore,  on  seeing  the  little  red  flag  waving  in 
the  breeze  this  bright  afternoon  —  over  the  street 
they  flew. 

"  I  am  going  to  take  you  to  call  on  a  lady,"  said 
Doodle,  very  mysteriously,  as  they  arrived. 

"  A  lady !  "  exclaimed  the  children. 

"  Yes;  a  lady!" 

"  Who  is  she?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Where  does  she  live  ?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Do  we  know  her  ?  "  asked  Nora. 

"  Have  we  ever  seen  her?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  One  question  at  a  time,  if  you  please,"  Doodle 
beseeched.  "Yes;  you  have  seen  her.  She  is  a 
French  lady !  " 

"  A  French  lady!  "  exclaimed  Jack. 

"  Oh,  we  are  not  dressed  well  enough  to  go  call- 
ing," said  Nora. 

"  Oh,  yes  you  are,"  replied  Doodle,  "  she  won't 
even  look  at  you." 

"  Won't  look  at  us!  " 

"  No." 

"  Won't  she  speak  to  us  ?  " 
"  No." 

"Not  speak  to  us!"  exclaimed  Jack,  in  perfect 
astonishment.  "  I  don't  think  she  is  much  of  a  lady 
then,  if  she  won't  speak  to  people  who  come  to  see 
her." 

"  Yes ;  and  such  charming  people  as  wre  are,  too," 
added  Doodle,  "  it  is  strange ;  but  what  I  tell  you  is 
true.    She  will  neither  look  at  us,  nor  speak  to  us." 

"  Well,"  laughed  Nora,  "  Doodle  says  she  is  a 


250  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


French  lady,  so  if  she  did  speak,  it  wouldn't  be  any 
use.    We  couldn't  understand  her." 

"  I  can  say  '  Bon  jour,  Madame,'  "  said  Jack. 

"  So  can  I,"  said  Nora,  "  but  that's  not  enough 
for  calling  talk." 

"  Are  you  going  to  speak  to  her,  Doodle  ?  "  asked 
Jack. 

"  No." 

"  Will  she  shake  hands  with  us?  "  asked  Nora. 
"  Heaven  forbid !  "  cried  Doodle. 
Nora  and  Jack  stared  at  one  another. 
"  Does  she  know  that  we  are  coming?"  asked 
Jack. 
"  No." 

"  How  are  we  going?  "  asked  Nora. 
"  In  a  boat." 

"  In  a  boat !  "  they  both  exclaimed.  "  How 
nice!" 

"  Come  along,  then,"  said  Doodle. 
"  Is  she  handsome  ?  "  asked  Nora. 
"  Very." 

"  Is  she  tall?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  Enormous,"  laughed  Doodle.  "  Do  come  along, 
children.  Yes,  of  course,  those  gloves  will  do  "  (to 
Nora,  who  was  looking  critically  at  her  hands), 
"  and  so  will  yours,"  (to  Jack,  who  at  once  began  to 
look  at  his).    "  Come  along." 

Not  a  word  more  would  the  provoking  Doodle 
say  on  the  subject  when  they  got  into  the  Subway 
train  at  Fiftieth  Street. 

"  We'll  get  out  at  Grand  Central,  perhaps,"  said 
Jack. 

"  I  guess  Twenty-third  Street,"  said  Nora. 
These  stations  were  passed,  however;  and  then 
Nora  and  Jack  watched  every  succeeding  one  with 


THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  251 

interest.  Still  they  went  on  and  on  until  they 
reached  South  Ferry.  It  was  not  until  they  were 
nearing  Battery  Pier  that  the  puzzle  was  solved. 

"  Oh,  I  know  who  the  lady  is,"  laughed  Jack, 
"  she's  Miss  Liberty!  " 

"  Oh,  dear,"  laughed  Nora.  "Of  course,  she 
can't  shake  hands." 

"Do  you  know  how  big  her  hand  is?"  asked 
Doodle.  "  You'll  never  guess.  It  is  over  sixteen 
feet  long,  and  the  index  finger  is  eight  feet  —  two 
feet  longer  than  a  tall  man." 

"  Good  gracious !  "  exclaimed  Jack. 

"  Good  gracious !  "  echoed  Nora. 

"  How  big  do  you  think  her  eye  is  ?  Two  feet, 
seven  inches  across." 

"  Good  gracious!  "  laughed  Nora. 

"  Good  gracious !  "  echoed  Jack. 

"  Her  mouth  —  a  whole  yard  long  —  three  feet !  " 

"  Good  gracious!  "  screamed  the  children. 

"  Her  nose  ?  —  four  feet,  six  inches." 

"  Good  gracious !  "  said  Nora. 

"  Longer  than  I  am  tall,"  said  Jack. 

"  From  chin  to  brow  our  goddess  measures 
seventeen  feet,  three  inches." 

"  Good  gracious !  "  the  children  laughed. 

"  Forty  persons  can  stand  in  her  head  and  twelve 
persons  in  the  torch." 

"  Good  gracious !  "  exclaimed  Nora. 

"  Are  we  going  up?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  If  you  want  to;  yes,  I  think  I  can  stand  it,"  said 
Doodle,  not  remembering  the  154  steps  with  over- 
much enthusiasm. 

The  Falcon  was  at  the  dock;  and  so  they  soon 
found  pleasant  seats;  and,  having  a  little  time 
to  spare,  Doodle  asked :  "  Shall  I  tell  you  something 


252  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 

about  the  statue  while  we  are  waiting  for  the  boat 
to  start?  "  Reading  assent  in  the  four  bright  eyes, 
Doodle  began : 

"  You  know  that  France  is  a  Republic  like  our- 
selves and  that  the  pleasantest  and  most  friendly 
relations  have  always  existed  between  the  two 
nations.  So  when  this  country  was  about  to  cele- 
brate the  first  hundred  years  of  its  existence,  the 
French  people  thought  it  would  be  a  very  nice  thing 
to  present  some  memorial  —  in  other  words  to  send 
a  birthday  present.  This  idea  was  first  discussed 
in  the  home  of  M.  Laboulaye  at  Glavigny,  near 
Versailles;  and  in  1874  the  Union  Franco- Amcri- 
caine  was  formed  to  collect  subscriptions  and  ar- 
range matters.  Soon  the  plan  and  model  for  the 
Statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World  was  of- 
fered by  Frederic  Auguste  Bartholdi,  who  was  al- 
ready a  famous  sculptor.  The  French  people  sub- 
scribed a  hundred  thousand  francs  for  the  statue; 
people  of  the  United  States  subscribed  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  the  pedestal;  and  the  United 
States  Government  gave  Bedloe's  Island  for  the  site. 

"  The  arm  with  the  uplifted  torch  was  the  first 
part  to  be  finished  and  this  was  exhibited  at  the 
Centennial  Exhibition  in  Philadelphia  in  1876  and 
the  head  was  exhibited  at  the  Paris  Exposition  in 
1878.  When  completed,  it  was  set  up  in  Paris  and 
on  July  1,  1880,  was  formally  delivered  to  the 
American  Minister  in  Paris.  Then  it  was  shipped 
to  New  York  in  210  cases,  and  set  up  and  unveiled 
in  New  York  Harbour  on  Oct.  28,  1886. 

"  The  statue  is  made  in  separate  plates  of  thin 
hammered  copper  and  these  are  all  fastened  to  an 
immense  iron  truss-work  that  was  designed  by  the 


THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  253 


famous  engineer,  Eiffel,  who  afterwards  made  the 
great  Eiffel  Tower  in  Paris.  M.  Bartholdi  worked 
on  this  splendid  statue  for  twenty  years;  and  it  is 
nice  to  think  that  his  was  the  hand  that  drew 
aside  the  curtain  and  unveiled  the  noble  figure  to 
the  New  World. 

"  There  she  stands  in  the  snows  and  rains  of 
winter  and  the  hot  suns  of  summer  looking  towards 
the  Old  World.  At  night  her  diadem  sparkles  and 
her  great  torch  glows  with  light,  just  as  the  sculptor 
imagined  her.  When  looking  upon  the  beautiful 
bay  in  1870,  he  said : 

"  *  We  will  rear  here,  before  the  eyes  of  the 
millions  of  strangers  seeking  a  home  in  the  New 
World,  a  colossal  statue  of  Liberty;  in  her  up- 
stretched  hand  the  torch  enlightening  the  world ;  in 
her  other  hand  the  Book  of  Laws,  to  remind  them 
that  true  liberty  is  only  found  in  obedience  to  law; 
and  the  people  of  France  shall  present  the  statue  in 
memory  of  the  ancient  friendship  subsisting  be- 
tween the  two  countries/ 

"  There  is  very  little  danger  of  her  being  destroyed 
as  was  the  Liberty  Pole  in  the  Common  to  which 
she  seems  in  some  sort  of  fashion  to  be  the  sequel ; 
and  woe  be  to  him  who  attempts  it. 

"  So  much  for  the  history.  Now  for  the  statue 
itself.  Do  you  know  that  Miss  Liberty  is  the  larg- 
est statue  ever  made  ?  " 

"  Why  no !  "  both  children  replied. 

"  Well,  it  is.  It  is  three  times  taller  than  the 
famous  Colossus  of  Rhodes,  which  was  one  of  the 
Seven  Wonders  of  the  World.  The  Statue  of 
Liberty  is  often  called  the  *  Eighth  Wonder  of  the 
World/    We  are  so  accustomed  to  seeing  it  that 


254  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


we  rarely  think  of  what  an  astonishing  work  it  is 
—  wonderful  in  idea;  wonderful  in  size;  wonderful 
in  majesty." 

"  How  big  is  it,  Doodle?  "  asked  Jack. 

"  From  low  water  to  the  tip  top  of  the  torch  it 
is  305  feet,  11  inches,  but  the  statue  itself  stands 
151  feet,  1  inch  from  base  to  torch.  It  weighs  four 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds,  or,  if  you  like 
better,  I  will  say  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  tons. 

"  I  suppose  I  had  better  tell  you  something  now 
about  Bedloe's  Island,  to  which  you  see  we  are  hur- 
rying," continued  Doodle,  after  a  pause.  "  Some- 
times it  is  called  Liberty  Island,  but  the  old  name 
still  clings  to  it,  which  is  that  of  its  owner  Isaac 
Bedlow,  who  bought  it  from  the  Indians  and  made 
such  a  pretty  place  of  it  that  in  1670  the  Governor 
of  New  York  issued  an  order  to  Isaac  Bedlow 
stating  that  in  consideration  of  the  improvements 
made  by  him  on  the  island  it  should  be  called  Love 
Island  and  no  arrests  could  be  made  or  warrants 
served  on  it  without  the  Governor's  special  consent. 

"  After  Bedlow's  death,  Love  Island  was  sold  to 
Captain  Kennedy  of  the  British  army,  who  paid 
£100  pounds  for  it, —  that  is  $500. 

"  In  1750  New  York  bought  the  island  and  in 
1800  the  United  States  Government  took  possession 
of  it.  It  had  been  used  for  a  pest-house  and  now 
it  was  used  for  a  fort.  When  the  Government  de- 
cided to  give  it  for  the  site  for  the  Statue  of  Liberty, 
the  old  star-shaped  walls  of  the  Fort  were  followed 
for  the  walls  of  the  pedestal,  which  makes  such  a 
fine  effect." 

"  We're  going!    We're  going!  "  cried  Jack. 

"  Yes ;  now  we  are  off.  That  is  Ellis  Island  on 
our  right,  where  the  immigrants  are  landed;  and 


THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  255 


that  is  Governor's  Island  on  our  left;  and  that  is 
Bedloe's  Island,  to  which  we  are  going,  at  the  very 
entrance  of  the  Harbour." 

"  Why  is  it  called  Governor's  Island,  Doodle  ?  " 
asked  Jack. 

"  Because  the  old  Dutch  Governors  and  the  Eng- 
lish Governors  after  them  used  it  as  a  sort  of 
pasture-land  for  their  cows  and  coach  horses.  In- 
deed, Lord  Cornbury  liked  it  so  much  that  he  built 
a  fine  mansion  upon  it.  It  was  not  always  called 
Governor's  Island,  though.  The  Indians  called  it 
Pagganck,  a  name  meaning  nuts,  because  there  were 
such  splendid  groves  of  walnut,  chestnut  and  hick- 
ory, and  so  the  Dutch  translated  the  Indian  name 
and  called  it  Nutten  Island.  Wouter  Van  Twiller 
bought  it  from  the  Indians  for  himself  in  1637  and 
when  he  went  back  to  Holland,  it  became  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Dutch  Government. 

"  During  the  war  of  1812  it  was  turned  into  a 
battery  and  fort  and  old  Castle  Williams  —  that  old 
brown  plum  cake  — -  was  erected  on  the  lower  end  of 
the  island  to  command  Buttermilk  Channel.  Dur- 
ing the  Civil  War,  Castle  Williams  was  used  as  a 
dungeon  for  Confederate  prisoners  —  at  one  time 
a  thousand  were  held  there.  Governor's  Island  is 
being  much  enlarged  by  artificially  made  land,  and  it 
covers  considerably  more  than  sixty-five  acres.  It 
is  now  the  headquarters  of  the  Military  Depart- 
ment of  the  East  and  is  the  residence  of  the  com- 
manding general.  A  fitting  place  for  the  landing- 
stage  of  air-ships,  Governor's  Island  will  always  be 
remembered  as  the  starting-stage  of  Hamilton's 
thrilling  flight  to  Philadelphia. 

"  Oh!  what  a  beautiful  afternoon  this  is!  "  And 
indeed  it  was  a  beautiful  afternoon,  one  of  those 


256  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


bright  days  in  the  early  autumn  when  the  light  seems 
to  be  made  of  molten  gold.  There  had  been  a  storm 
the  day  before  and  the  waves  were  very  restless  and 
high  and  of  a  dark  blue;  and  very  few  clouds  were 
in  the  sky.  Bay  and  river  were  alive  with  boats 
of  all  kinds  —  tugs,  sail-boats,  motor-boats,  yachts, 
ferry-boats,  excursion-steamers.  Several  great 
ocean  liners  were  also  starting  for  their  voyages. 
In  fact,  the  Falcon  had  to  pick  her  way  rather  slowly 
at  first  to  let  the  Mauretania  pass.  The  children 
were  fascinated  by  this  great  ship,  and  ran  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Falcon  to  watch  her  gliding  along 
so  rapidly  towards  the  sea.  Then  they  became  in- 
terested in  watching  Miss  Liberty  growing  bigger 
and  bigger  as  they  approached  Bedloe's  Island. 

The  first  thing  of  course,  after  docking,  was  to 
make  the  ascent. 

What  a  perfect  view  met  their  eyes!  Facing 
the  ocean,  they  looked  across  the  Upper  Bay 
through  the  Narrows  towards  the  Lower  Bay  and 
out  to  sea  where  they  still  saw  the  Mauretania 
leaving  behind  her  a  gauzy  black  veil  of  smoke. 
Doodle  explained  that  New  York  Harbour  consists 
of  two  Bays  separated  by  Staten  Island  and  be- 
tween them,  a  little  strait  or  passage  —  only  a  mile 
wide  at  one  place  —  called  the  Narrows,  guarded 
by  forts.  On  the  Staten  Island  side  are  Fort 
Wadsworth  and  Fort  Tompkins;  and  opposite,  on 
the  Long  Island  side,  Fort  Hamilton  guards  the 
entrance,  while,  off  the  shore,  on  an  artificial  is- 
land, stands  Fort  Lafayette.  Below  the  Narrows, 
are  the  quarantine  stations  and  Sandy  Hook  with 
its  big  lighthouse;  and  off  Sandy  Hook,  Scotland 
Light  Ship  —  twenty-five  miles  from  New  York. 

On  their  right,  the  Jersey  shore  presented  its  long 


THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  257 

f. 

line  of  docks  and  its  host  of  chimneys  and  oil  tanks; 
and  beyond  Bayonne  lay  Staten  Island,  cut  from 
the  mainland  by  Kill  van  Kull.  On  the  left  and 
nearly  opposite  Bayonne,  lay  Bay  Ridge  and  be- 
low it,  Fort  Hamilton.  Nearer  to  Bedloe's  Island 
are  Gowanus  Bay,  Red  Hook  and  Governor's  Is- 
land, embraced  by  Buttermilk  Channel,  which  runs 
into  Wallabout  Bay  where  the  Navy  Yard  is  situ- 
ated. Facing  north,  of  course  Governor's  Island 
now  lay  on  the  right;  Paulus  Hook  on  the  Jersey 
side,  on  the  left;  and,  directly  north,  Ellis  Island 
and  the  noble  Hudson  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
And  what  a  splendid  view  of  New  York,  too,  with 
all  the  tall  buildings  massed  together! 

"  It  looks  like  a  giant's  castle,"  said  Jack. 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  said  Doodle. 

"And  now,"  said  Doodle,  when  they  were  again 
seated  in  the  boat  for  their  return  voyage,  "  I  have 
another  interesting  thing  to  tell  you  about  Bedloe's 
Island.  It  was  the  spot  where  pirates  were 
hanged!"  Jack's  brown  eyes  fairly  burned  with 
excitement  as  he  looked  at  Doodle  doubtfully. 

"  Yes,  it  is  true,"  replied  the  latter.  "  There 
were  plenty  of  pirates  in  these  waters,  let  me  tell 
you.  Captain  Kidd  was  one  of  them,  you  know; 
and  Giles  Shelley  was  another;  indeed,  New  York 
Harbour  swarmed  with  them." 

"  Was  Captain  Kidd  hanged  on  Liberty  Island?  " 
asked  Jack. 

"  No ;  he  was  caught  and  hanged  in  London,  at 
Execution  Dock  on  the  Thames ;  but  he  was  a  very 
familiar  figure  in  New  York  and  had  a  nice  house 
here.  New  York  Harbour  has  been  the  scene  for 
many  great  events  in  navigation,"  continued  Doo- 
dle, "  and  many  famous  ships  have  anchored  in 


2SS  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


these  waters  since  Henry  Hudson's  Half  Moon 
passed  through  the  Narrows  and  astonished  the 
Manhattan  Indians.  Robert  Fulton's  Clermont 
made  her  first  voyage  here  in  1807;  the  steam-frig- 
ate, Fulton,  made  her  trial  trip  to  Sandy  Hook  in 
1 8 14;  here  came  the  first  ocean-steamers,  the  Sirius 
and  the  Great  Western,  in  1838;  and  here  came  the 
Great  Eastern,  which  laid  the  Atlantic  cable.  These 
shores  have  also  welcomed  all  the  record-breaking 
packet-ships  and  steamships  that  made  their  trips 
across  the  ocean,  lessening  time,  and,  therefore,  the 
sense  of  distance,  from  year  to  year.  War-ships, 
squadrons,  fleets  and  pleasure-yachts  have  come  and 
gone  and  come  again,  so  that  indeed  we  may  say 
our  noble  river  is  filled  with  phantom  vessels  and 
that  the  ghostly  Storm  Ship,  of  which  I  told  you  the 
other  day,  is  only  one  of  many  visions  we  may  see 
if  we  have  eyes  for  such  things. 

"  But  enough  of  the  past,  dear  children,  let  us 
enjoy  this  beautiful  present.  See  what  pink  and 
gold  the  sunset  clouds  are  throwing  down  upon  the 
restless  waves  and  how  they  swing  and  sway  and 
reflect  these  colours  in  a  hundred  ways.  See  how 
the  golden  light  strikes  that  little  sail-boat  and 
turns  it  into  a  fairy  craft,  fit  for  Oberon  himself ; 
see  how  the  long  plume  of  smoke  from  that  little 
tug  is  turned  to  a  veil  of  rose ;  look,  they  have  now 
lighted  Liberty's  torch,  which  shines  like  a  blue  star 
that  has  fallen  on  the  earth,  and  now  her  diadem 
begins  to  sparkle,  too;  and  see,  in  the  distance,  the 
tall  buildings  are  shining  and  gleaming  like  rubies 
and  fire-opals  as  the  light  from  the  sky  falls  upon 
their  windows;  and  what  is  that  cobweb  thrown 
across  the  East  River?    Was  it  made  for  Queen 


THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  259 


Mab,  do  you  think  ?  Is  it  now  receiving  a  chain  of 
golden  beads,  for,  one  by  one,  the  lights  appear?" 

"Why  that  is  only  Brooklyn  Bridge,"  explained 
Jack. 

"  It  looks  like  a  fairy  structure  to  me,"  said  Doo- 
dle. "  And  now,  as  we  are  about  to  land  on  Man- 
hattan Island  again,  and  see  before  us  those  tall 
buildings  that  seem  to  reach  into  the  very  sky  and 
in  which  thousands  of  persons  are  busy  all  day,  is 
it  not  hard  to  recall  the  fact  that  this  was  once  the 
little  Dutch  city  of  which  I  told  you  and  of  which  I 
showed  you  pictures?  Yes;  this  was  once  Fort 
Amsterdam,  with  its  tiny  little  houses  and  gardens 
clustered  around  the  Fort,  the  West  India  Com- 
pany's houses  and  the  low-roofed  church  of  St. 
Nicholas. 

"  The  great  New  York  on  which  we  gaze  has 
certainly  lost  all  likeness  to  the  little  walled  town, 
whose  gates  were  locked  every  night  at  sunset  and 
unlocked  every  morning  at  sunrise  by  the  Burgher 
Watch,  who  beat  their  drums  and  carried  their  flags 
of  orange  and  blue,  never  dreaming  of  such  won- 
ders as  Elevated  and  Subway  railways,  automobiles 
and  air-ships. 

"  The  New  Netherlands  that  was  swinging  at  her 
dock,  800  tons,  was  the  biggest  ship  they  ever  saw, 
or  could  ever  imagine.  What  would  they  think  if 
they  could  have  seen  the  Manretania  of  32,000 
tons  that  passed  us  this  afternoon?  What  would 
they  have  said  if  anyone  had  told  them  the  ocean 
could  be  crossed  in  five  days,  or  that  an  air-ship 
would  fly  from  Nutten  Island?  What  would  they 
have  said  to  a  tunnel  under  the  Hudson  River  and 
another  through  the  city  to  Long  Island?  They 


260  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


would  have  considered  such  things  dreams  of  the 
insane. 

"  Here  where  the  old  Dutch  citizens  and  their 
wives  strolled,  or  sat  at  their  doors,  or  in  their  prim, 
trim  gardens,  smoking  and  knitting;  here  where 
they  skated  in  winter ;  held  their  fairs  in  the  autumn ; 
and  enjoyed  their  picnics  and  May-games  in  the 
spring  and  summer  are  the  stations  of  the  Elevated 
and  Subway  trains  and  offices  of  the  steamships 
that  have  turned  the  ocean  into  a  ferry  from  the 
Old  World  to  the  New. 

"  Do  we  not  live  in  a  wonderful  age  and  do  we 
not  live  in  a  wonderful  city?  A  city  only  three 
hundred  years  old,  but  having  outstripped  every 
other  city  in  the  world  in  size  except  London! 
And  how  many  changes  has  our  city  passed  through 
until  it  has  become  the  city  which  in  our  walks  and 
trips  and  talks  we  have  tried  to  know  ? 

"  One  thing  alone  remains  unchanged  —  the  great 
ocean  that  sends  its  delicious  salt  breezes  into  our 
crowded  streets  to  bring  us  life  and  health.  Be- 
yond the  Narrows,  it  swings  and  heaves  under  the 
sun  and  moon  and  starry  skies  as  it  did  when  those 
great  reptiles  we  saw  in  the  Natural  History  Mu- 
seum roamed  over  the  plains  and  hills;  as  it  did 
when  the  Red  Men  peopled  the  dark  shores  of  the 
bay  and  river  and  darted  over  the  waves  in  their 
swift  canoes;  as  it  did  when  the  Sea-Mew  brought 
Peter  Minuit  to  buy  from  them  the  Island  of  Man- 
hattan. 

"  I  wonder  what  our  city  will  be  like  three  hun- 
dred years  from  now,"  said  Doodle,  "  and  what 
will  be  its  fate !  " 


APPENDIX 


DIRECTIONS  FOR  REACHING  THE  MUSEUMS  AND 
OTHER  POINTS  OF  INTEREST  DESCRIBED  IN  THIS 
BOOK,  WITH  OTHER  USEFUL  INFORMATION. 

CHAPTER  II 

The  New  York  Aquarium,  in  Battery  Park,  is 
open  daily  including  Sunday  (with  the  exception  of 
Monday  forenoon)  from  9  a.  m.  to  5  p.  m.,  April- 
October;  and  from  10  A.  M.  to  4  p.  M.  November- 
March.  Admission  free.  It  is  reached  by  any  El- 
vated,  Surface  or  Subway  line  running  to  South 
Ferry. 

Exhibits  of  living  fishes,  aquatic  reptiles,  marine 
mammals  and  invertebrates. 

CHAPTERS  IV  AND  V 

The  New  York  Zoological  Park  is  open  daily 
from  May  1  to  November  1,  from  9  a.  m.  until  half 
an  hour  before  sunset,  from  November  1  to  May  1, 
from  10  a.  m.  until  half  an  hour  before  sunset. 
It  is  free  except  on  Mondays  and  Thursdays  when 
an  admission  fee  of  twenty-five  cents  is  charged  and 
it  is  free  on  all  holidays  and  on  Mondays  and 
Thursdays  when  holidays  fall  on  those  days.  Tick- 
ets are  sold  only  at  the  entrance  gates.  Take  Bronx 
Park  Express  Subway  train  to  Terminus  at  West 

261 


262  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


Farms  180th  Street;  or  the  Third  Avenue  Elevated 
to  Fordham  Station,  from  which  the  northeast  en- 
trance is  half  a  mile  distant  due  eastward  on  Pel- 
ham  Avenue,  and  reached  by  the  Union  Railway 
surface  cars. 

"  The  Green  Cars." —  From  Fordham  and  High 
Bridge,  and  also  from  the  corner  of  Third  Avenue 
and  180th  Street,  the  green  trolley  cars  of  the  new 
Interborough  line  pass  the  Crotona  (southwest) 
Entrance  and  run  within  one  block  of  the  Fordham 
Entrance. 

Via  the  Harlem  Railroad. —  Another  way  to 
reach  the  Park  from  lower  New  York  is  the  Harlem 
Railroad  from  the  Grand  Central  Station  to  Ford- 
ham Station,  (twenty-five  cents  for  the  round  trip), 
whence  a  carriage  may  be  taken  to  the  Park  at  a 
fare  of  twenty-five  cents  for  each  person.  The 
running  time  between  Fordham  and  42d  Street  is 
about  twenty-five  minutes. 

Routes  for' Automobiles  or  Carriages. —  Via  Cen- 
tral Park,  Lenox  Avenue,  Macomb's  Dam  Bridge 
and  Jerome  or  Washington  Avenues  to  Pelham  Av- 
enue, thence  eastward  to  the  Concourse  Entrance, 
where  motor  cars  are  admitted  to  the  Park. 

The  Service  Building,  No.  28,  situated  near  the 
Reptile  House,  contains  the  offices  of  the  Director, 
Chief  Clerk  and  several  other  Park  officers,  work- 
shops and  storerooms. 

Children  lost  in  the  Park,  and  property  lost  or 
found,  should  be  reported  without  delay  at  the  Chief 
Clerk's  office  in  this  building. 

Wheeled  Clmirs  can  always  be  obtained  at  the 
entrances,  by  applying  to  gatekeepers,  or  at  the  of- 
fice of  the  Chief  Clerk,  in  the  Service  Building. 


APPENDIX 


263 


The  cost  is  25  cents  per  hour;  with  an  attendant, 
50  cents  per  hour. 

Exhibits  of  living  mammals,  birds  and  reptiles. 

CHAPTERS  VI  AND  VII 

New  York  Botanical  Garden,  Bronx  Park.  Mu- 
seums open  free  daily  in  summer  from  10  a.  m.  to 
5  p.m.;  in  winter  from  10  A.M.  to  4:30  P.M. 
Conservatories  open  free  daily  from  10  a.  m.  to 
4  p.  m.    Grounds  always  open. 

The  Garden  is  reached  as  follows : 

I.  By  the  Harlem  Division  of  the  New  York 
Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad  to  Bronx  Park 
Station. 

II.  By  the  Third  Avenue  Elevated  Railway  to 
the  terminal  station  of  that  road  at  Bronx  Park. 

III.  By  the  Subway,  Lenox  Avenue  and  West 
Farms  branch  with  transfer  at  149th  Street  and 
Third  Avenue  to  Elevated  Railway,  thence  to  Bronx 
Park  Station. 

IV.  By  trolley  car  on  Webster  Avenue  to  200th 
Street  or  the  Woodlawn  Road.  This  line  connects 
with  lines  from  the  western  part  of  the  Bronx  on 
Kingsbridge  Road,  and  on  Tremont  Avenue,  and 
also  with  the  line  to  Yonkers. 

V.  By  trolley  line  on  the  White  Plains  road  east 
of  Bronx  Park  from  West  Farms,  Williamsbridge, 
and  Mt.  Vernon,  connecting  with  lines  from  the 
eastern  part  of  the  Bronx  at  West  Farms  and  at  Mt. 
Vernon. 

VI.  By  driveways  in  Mosholu  Parkway  from  Van 
Cortlandt  Park;  from  Pelham  Bay  Park  through 
Pelham  Parkway;  through  the  Crotona  Parkway 


264 


THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


and  Southern  Boulevard  from  Crotona  Park;  there 
are  also  driveway  entrances  at  200th  Street,  conven- 
ient for  carriages  coming  from  Jerome  Avenue;  at 
Newell  Avenue,  at  the  northern  end  of  the  Garden, 
for  carriages  coming  from  the  north;  at  Bleecker 
Street  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Garden  for  car- 
riages coming  from  the  east ;  and  at  the  Woodlawn 
Road,  convenient  for  carriages  coming  from  Yon- 
kers,  and  from  other  points  west  and  northwest  of 
the  Garden. 

Exhibits  of  hardy  herbaceous  plants,  shrubs  and 
trees;  tropical  and  temperate  zone  plants;  plant 
products,  fossil  plants ;  etc. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Seventy- 
seventh  Street,  from  Columbus  Avenue  to  Central 
Park  West.  Open  daily,  except  Sundays,  from 
9  A.  m.  to  5  p.  M.  Sundays  from  1  to  5  p.  m. 
Always  free. 

A  Kindergarten,  in  which  children  receive  in- 
struction in  subjects  relating  to  Natural  History, 
is  held  on  Wednesday  afternoons  and  all  day  Sat- 
urday. 

Take  Sixth  or  Ninth  Avenue  Elevated  Railway 
to  Eighty-first  Street,  or  Subway  to  Seventy-ninth 
Street;  also  reached  by  all  surface  cars  running 
through  Columbus  Avenue  or  Central  Park  West. 

Exhibits  of  meteorites,  American  woods,  stuffed 
and  mounted  animals  and  birds,  skeletons  of  ante- 
diluvian animals,  minerals,  gems,  shells  and  ethno- 
logical collections  illustrating  the  customs  of  various 
races  of  North  and  South  America. 


APPENDIX 


265 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  in  Central 
Park,  with  the  main  entrance  on  Fifth  Avenue  at 
Eighty-second  Street.  It  is  open  daily,  from  10 
a.  m.  to  6  p.  m.,  in  Summer  (Saturdays  to  10  p.  m.  ; 
Sundays  from  1  to  6  p.  m.),  in  Winter  to  5  p.  m. 

On  Mondays  and  Fridays  only,  an  admission  fee 
of  25  cents  is  charged  (except  to  members  and 
copyists). 

The  Fifth  Avenue  stages  pass  the  door  and  the 
Madison  Avenue  surface  cars  are  one  block  east. 
Connection  with  the  Subway  is  made  at  Forty-second 
Street,  and  with  West  Side  cars  at  Fifty-ninth  and 
Eighty-sixth  Streets.  The  nearest  Third  Avenue 
Elevated  Station  is  at  Eighty- fourth  Street. 

The  Library,  opening  out  of  Gallery  14  (first 
floor),  is  free  for  reference  daily,  except  Sunday, 
from  10  a.  m.  to  5  p.  M. 

The  books  number  18,000  volumes;  the  photo- 
graphs, 27,000. 

A  restaurant  is  in  the  Basement  on  the  northwest 
side  of  the  main  building.  Meals  are  served  a  la 
carte  from  10  a.m.  to  5  p.m.;  table  d'hote  from 
12  m.  to  5  p.  M. 

Collections  of  paintings,  sculpture,  Egyptian, 
Greek  and  Roman  antiquities,  metal-work,  wood- 
work, furniture,  tapestry,  lace,  armour,  etc.,  etc. 

CHAPTER  XI 

Statue  of  Liberty  Excursions. 

The  iron  steamers  Falcon  and  H.  S.  Caswell  leave 
Battery  Pier,  near  the  Aquarium,  for  Bedloe's  Is- 


266  THE  CHILDREN'S  CITY 


land,  New  York  Harbour,  every  day  in  the  year  at 
every  hour  on  the  hour,  from  8  a.  m.  to  8  p.  m. 
Round  Trip,  25  cents.  Take  any  elevated,  or  sub- 
way, or  surface  car  to  South  Ferry.  Admission  free 
to  statue  and  fort.  Cafe  and  Restaurant  at  New 
York  prices. 


THE  END 


INDEX 


A 

Adder,  Gray  Death,  no 

Adder,  Puff,  109 

Adder,  Purple  Death,  no 

Agathosma  apiculata,  145 

Agave,  140,  141 

Age  of  Mammals,  190 

Age  of  Reptiles,  187,  189-90 

Agouti,  117 

Air-plants,  148 

Air-ships,  259 

Albany,  6,  7 

Alexander  and  Diogenes,  220 
Alice  in   the  Looking-glass, 

quotation  from,  53 
Allamanda,  136 
Alligators,  105 
Allosaurus,  188 
Almshouse,  The,  24 
Aloes,  138,  141 
Alpacas,  129 
Amaryllis  family,  135 
Amblypoda,  The,  191 
American  soldiers,  23 
Amsterdam,  5,  6,  7 
Anaconda,  108,  150 
Andre,  Major,  238 
Anemone,  Sea,  40 
Angel-Fish,  39,  41-42 
Angler,  The,  46 
Animals,   stuffed  and 

mounted,  181,  184 
Annelids,  50 

Ant-eater,  Great,  118-119 
Antediluvian  flowers,  162 
Antediluvian  trees,  161 
Antelopes,  125 


Apthorpe  House,  233 
Aquarium,  The,  29-53,  261 

definition  of,  30 

visitors  to  the,  32 

water-supply,  33 
Arab  Fantasia  at  Tangiers, 
213 

Arabian  Nights,  217 
Arcal  Mountain  Sheep,  101 
Arctic  Queen,  104 
Arion,  Rescue  of,  219 
Arion,  Story  of,  219 
Arizona  Candle,  141 
Armadillos,  118-9,  191 
Arms  of  Amsterdam,  The,  8 
Aroids,  136,  143 
Arrow-root,  136 
Astor  Place,  24 
Athene,  stories  of,  196,  197 
Atlantic  Cable,  258 
Atoll,  173 
Auk,  Great,  179 
Australian  acacias,  147 
Azara  Dog,  116 

B 

Balloon,  The,  224 
Balsam,  142 
Bamboo,  135,  143 
Bananas,  144 
Banyan,  137' 
Bank  of  Amsterdam,  5 
Barbados  Nut,  143 
Barnum's  Circus,  180 
Bartholdi,  F.  A.,  252,  253 
Bastien-Lepage,  224 
Battery,  The,  23 


268 


INDEX 


Battery  Parade,  31 
Battery  Park,  24,  30,  31,  37 
Bayonne,  257 
Bay  Ridge,  257 
Beach-fleas,  36 
Bears,  102-4 
Beavers,  98 

Bedloe's  Island,  252,  254,  255, 

256,  257 
Bedlow,  Isaac,  254 
Beebe,  Mr.,  85,  91,  122 
Beekman  House,  234 
Beetles,  185 
Bees,  185 
Begonias,  143 
Bellini,  Giovanni,  226 
Binturong,  116 
Birds,  groups  of,  177 
Bird  of  Paradise  flower,  144 
Birds  of  Paradise,  181-2 
Bison,  European,  80 
Block  House  Point,  238 
Bloomingdale  Heights,  232 
Bloomingdale  Road,  233 
Blower,  46 
Boa  Constrictor,  108 
Boa,  Sand,  108 
Boa,  Tree,  108 
Boas,  108,  150 
Bonheur,  Rosa,  216,  223 
Botanical    Gardens,  132-162, 

263 

Botanical  Museum,  132,  159- 
62 

Boston  Harbour,  destruction 

of  tea  in,  21 
Boston  Port  Road,  17,  75,  77 
Bottle  Brush  Tree,  146 
Boucher,  219 
Bourget,  Le,  213 
Bowling-Green,  16,  22,  24,  25 
Brazil  Nut,  bad  behavior  of, 
155 

Bread-fruit,  137 
Bride  fish,  43 
Bridewell,  The  New,  24 
Bridge  Street,  16 


British,   Evacuation   of  the, 

23,  75 

Broad  Street,  10,  16,  17,  24 
Broadway,  15,  16,  24,  25 
Brontosaurus,  187-8 
Bronx  Park,  132-162 
Bronx  River,  132 
Brooklyn,  15 

Brush,  George  de  Forest,  213 
Buffaloes,  77,  177 
Bull's  Ferry,  238 
Burgher  Watch,  259 
Burr,  Aaron,  233 
Bushmaster,  111,  150 
Butterflies,  184 
Buttermilk  Channel,  255,  257 

C 

Cactus  family,  138-40 
Cactus,  Giant,  141-2 
Cactus,  Hedgehog,  139 
Cactus,  Old  Man,  139 
Cactus,  Turk's  Cap,  139 
Calla  Lily,  136,  143 
Camellia,  146 
Cameloids,  129 
Camels,  129 
Camphor,  146 
Canal  Street,  15 
Canna  families,  144 
Capybara,  116-7 
Cape's  Tavern,  23 
Carrion  Flowers,  138 
Carrot,  wild,  157 
Cassava  Bread,  153 
Cassique,  Crested,  178 
Castle  Garden,  31 
Castle  Williams,  31,  255 
Cat  animals,  feeding  of,  115 
Cathedral   of   St.   John  the 

Divine,  232 
Catskill  Mountains,  238,  242, 

246 

Central  Park,  54-78,  232 
Arsenal,  56,  57,  61 
Ball  Ground,  64-5 
Belvedere,  68 


INDEX 


269 


Central  Park — (continued) 
Bethesda  Fountain,  63 
Block  House,  73~5 
Bow  Bridge,  65 
Casino,  72 
Cave,  68 

Concourse,  73,  234 

Conservatory  Pond,  71,  75 

Deer-park,  58 

East  Drive,  60,  61,  72 

Esplanade,  63 

Gates,  58-9 

Green,  The,  65 

Harlem  Mere,  75 

Lake,  The,  63,  64,  65 

Lily  Pond,  73 

Making  of,  55-8 

Mall,  the,  61,  63 

Mariner's  Gate,  68 

Marble  arch,  62 

McGowan's  Pass  Tavern,  75 

Menagerie,  57,  61 

Music  Pavilion,  62 

North  Meadow,  73 

Pond,  60-1 

Prince  of  Wales's  Oak,  62 
Ramble,  58,  67 
Reservoir,  New,  72,  76 
Reservoir,  Old,  68 
Size  of,  55 
Sparrows,  67 

Statues  and  busts,  58,  61, 
62,  67 

Swans,  65-7 

Terrace,  62,  63,  64,  65 

Trees,  59-60,  62-3 

West  drive,  60-73 
Charles  the  Second,  14 
Chenille  Plant,  143 
Children  Playing  Cards,  228 
Chocolate  tree,  137 
Cleopatra's   Needle,  70 
Clermont,  The,  25,  258 
Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  22 
City  Arms  Tavern,  19 
City  Hall,  Old,  15,  19,  21,  22, 24 
City  Hall,  present,  24 
City  Hall,  illumination  of,  26 


City  Hall  Park,  24 
City  Tavern,  10 
Civet  Cats,  116 
Century  plants,  135,  141,  151 
Cereus,  Night  Blooming,  139- 
40 

Coati-Mundi,  118 
Cobra-de-Capello,  109 
Cobra,  King,  109,  203 
Cobra,  Spectacled,  109 
Cockatoos,  82 
Cock  Hill  Fort,  238 
Cocoanut  Palm,  135 
Cocoanut,  Sea,  147 
Coco  de  Mer,  147 
Coenties  Slip,  10,  15 
Collect,  The,  15,  2s 
Colossus  of  Rhodes,  253 
Columbia  University,  235 
Columbines,  158 
Common,  The,  19,  20,  21,  22, 
24 

Condor,  93 
Congo,  96 

Conservatory,  133-151 
Conservatory  Court,  150 
Copper  Lady,  185 
Corals,  173 

Corlear,  Anthony,  Van,  239 

Cornbury,  Lord,  255 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  238 

Corstiaensen,  Hendrick,  7 

Cortlandt  Street,  24 

Cot,  P.  A.,  217 

Couture,  215 

Cow  Chase,  The,  238 

Cow  Fish,  39,  43 

Crab,  Hermit,  48,  49 

Horse  foot,  49 

Saucepan,  49 
Crane,    Sandhill,    Dance  of 

the,  122 
Crane,  whooping,  121 
Cranes,  121-2 
Croton  Point,  241 
Croton  Water,  26 
Crotons,  143 
Cruger's  Dock,  20 


270 


INDEX 


Crystals,  192 
Curassow,  90-1 
Custard  Apples,  143 

D 

Daret,  Jacques,  226 
Day  Dreams,  215 
Deer,  American,  130 
Deer,  European,  89 
Defence  of  Champigny,  222 
Desert  plants,  138-42 
Dessoug,  The,  70 
Detaille,  222 

Diamond,  Cullinan,  model  of, 
192 

Dinoceras,  The,  191 
Dinosaur,  186 
Dragon  Plants,  136 
Drill,  The,  49 
Drum,  The,  45 
Ducks,  90 

Dupont,  Gainsborough,  219 

Dupre,  Jules,  224 

Duke     of    Richmond  and 

Lenox,  225 
Dunderberg,   Goblin  of  the, 

239,  247 

E 

Eagle,  Bateleur,  120 
East  India  Company,  5 
East  River,  20 
Echinoderms,  49 
Edward,  The,  20 
Egypt,  203 

Egyptians,  Gods  of  the,  204 

Egyptians,  relics  of  the,  203-4 

Eland,  125 

Elephants,  96-7 

Elgin  Marbles,  198 

Elk,  Irish,  191,  192 

Ellis  Island,  254,  257 

Erie  Canal,  25 

Eskimos,  167,  175-7 

Eucalyptus,  146 

Eyck,  Hubert  van,  211 


Eyck,  Jan  van,  211 
Eye,  emblem,  204 

F 

Falcon,  The,  251,  256 
Federal  Hall,  24 
Fer-de-Lance,  111 
Ficus  parasitica,  bad  behavior 

of,  156 
Fields,  the,  19 
Fig-trees,  136 

Fish,  feeding  of,  34,  35-38 
Fishes,  number  of  fishes  in 

the  Aquarium,  32 
Fish,  sick,  34 
Flamingo,  91 
Flip,  104 

Floating  Fern,  143 

Florentine  Lady  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Century,  225 

Flowers,  Fairy,  158-159 

Flying  Dragon,  183 

Flying  Dutchman,  The,  242 

Fort  Amsterdam,  8-9,  10,  11, 
259. 

Fort  Clinton,  31 
Fort  Constitution,  238 
Fort  George,  16,  22,  23,  24 
Fort  Hamilton,  256,  257 
Fort  James,  14 
Fort  Lafayette,  256 
Fort  Lee,  238 
Fort  Tompkins,  256 
Fort  Tryon,  237 
Fort  Wadsworth,  256 
Fort  Washington,  237,  238 
Fortuny,  213 
Fossil  Butterflies,  161-2 
Fossil  insects,  162 
Fossil  plants,  160-1 
Four-eyed,  fish,  43 
Friedland  1807,  221 
Frugal  Meal,  1  ne,  214 
Fulton,  Robert,  25,  258 
Fulton,  The,  258 
Fraunces  Tavern,  16,  23 
Free  Bridge  Dyckman's,  17 


INDEX 


271 


Fresh  Water,  The,  15,  25 
G 

Gage,  General,  22 
Garden,  In  the,  213 
Gautier,  quotation  from,  214 
Geckos,  113 

George  III.,  Statue  of,  22 
Gerome,  217 
Ginger  plant,  144 
Ginseng,  143 
Giraffes,  124-5 
Girls  with  a  Cat,  228 
Glyptodons,  191 
Gnu,  white  tailed,  125 
Goats,  wild,  101 
Godvn's  Bay,  11 
Golden  Hill,  21 
Golden  Hill,  Battle  of,  21 
Gorringe,  Lieut.  Com.,  70 
Governor's   Island,   31,  255, 
257 

Gowanus  Bay,  257 
Grasses,  157 

Grand  Canal,  Venice,  221 
Grant's  Tomb,  236-7 
Great  Eastern,  The,  258 
Great  Western,  The,  258 
Greek  painters,  story  of  two, 
207 

Greuze,  217,  218 
Grevilleas,  146 
Guanacos,  129 
Gum  Trees,  146 
Gunda,  61,  62,  93,  94 
Haida  Canoe,  175 
Hakeas,  146 
Half-Moon,  The,  6,  242 

H 

Hals,  Dirk,  228 
Hals,  Frans,  pictures  by,  228 
Hamilton,  Mayor  Isaac,  22 
Hanover  Square,  17 
Harbour,  The,  New  York,  6, 

16,  257 
Harbour,  View  of,  256-7 


Harlem,  233 

Harlem  Heights,  73,  232,  233, 

234,  235 
Harlem  Heights,   Battle  of, 

232-4 
Harlem  Plains,  234 
Harriman  Alaska  Expedition, 

114 

Haverstraw  Bay,  238,  241 
Haydon,  220 
Heliopolis,  69 

Hemlock  Forest,  132,  133,  152 
Hemp-plants,  136 
Herbaceous  grounds,  152,  157 
High  Bridge,  26,  233 
Herculeum    gig  ant  cum,  bad 

behavior  of,  156 
Highlands   on   the  Hudson, 

233,  235,  238,  239,  241 
Himalavan  Laughing  Thrush, 

84-85 

Hippopotamus,  97-98 
Hobokcn,  239.  241 
Hoofdcn,  The,  10 
Hornaday,  Mr.,  86,  103,  128, 
129 

Horn's  Hook,  234 

Horse  Fair,  The,  217,  223 

Horse,  skeleton  of  race,  191 

Horse,  three  toed,  191 

Horses,  wild.  94-95 

House  of  Cards,  Miss  Rich 

Building  a,  219-20 
House  leeks,  140-1 
Howe,  General,  234 
Huariqui,  141 

Hudson,  quotation  from,  123- 
124 

Hudson,  Henry,  5,  6,  238,  246, 
258 

Hudson  River,  6,  25,  238,  257 
Hyaenodon,  192 
Hydroscope,  The,  52 

I 

Independence,  Declaration  of, 
22 


272 


INDEX 


Indians,  North  American,  174 
Invalides,  Hotel  des,  237 
Irving,  quotation  from,  241 
Israels,  214 

J 

Jabiru,  The,  91-92,  131 
Jack-in-the  Pulpit;  136,  143 
Jaguars,  85-88 
Jail,  The  New,  24 
Japanese  armour,  228-231 
Jeffrey's  Hook,  237  * 
Jessamine,  yellow,  147 
Jessamine,   Night  Blooming, 
136 

Jesup  Collection  of  trees,  169 
Joan  of  Arc,  224 
Jumbo,  180 

K 

Kaaba,  The,  165 
Kangaroos,  118 
Kapske  Point,  10 
Kapske  Rock,  31 
Karnak,  Temple  of,  200,  203, 
207 

Kartoom,  96 
Katzbergs,  The,  238 
Kennedy,  Captain,  254 
Kidd,  Captain,  257 
Kingsbridge,  16,  17,  233 
Kingsbridge  Road,  233 
King's  College,  21,  235 
King's  Farm,  The,  15 
Kinkajou,  116 
Knowlton,  Colonel,  234 
Knyphausen,  General,  238 

L 

Labrador  Duck,  179 
Landseer,  220 
Laocoon,  199,  200 
Largillierre,  218 
Last  Token,  The,  215 
Lear,  quotation  from,  112 


Lee,  General  Charles,  22 
Leitch,  Major,  234 
Lemurs,  88 
Leonids,  The,  166 
Leutze,  Emanuel,  212 
Lexington,  Battle  of,  22 
Liberty  Island,  254 
Liberty  Pole,  The,  20,  21,  253 
Liberty,  Statue  of,  251-3,  256, 

258,  265 
Lily  family,  135,  157 
Lilies,  South  African,  138 
Little  Masters,  The,  227 
Lizard,  Monitor,  113 
Lizards,  112-3 
Llamas,  129 
Logwood,  142 
London,  26 

Lopez,  story  of,  85-88 
Love  Island,  254 
Lynxes,  119 

M 

Macows,  82 

Madonna  and  Child  in  Ca- 
thedral of  Salamanca,  226 
Madonna  and  Child  (Bellini), 

226-7 
Maguey,  136 
Mahogany,  142 
Maid  of  Orleans,  The,  224 
Malabar  Squirrel,  117-8 
Malayan  Sun  Bear,  116 
Mammals,   North  American, 
177 

Mammee  apple,  143 
Mammoth,  190 

Manhattan  Island,  6,  7,  8,  26 
Manhattan  Square,  56 
Manihot,  153 
Manilla  hemp,  144 
Maranta  family,  136 
Marie  Antoinette,  218 
Marie  de  Thorigny,  218 
Marmosets,  88 
Masks,  Indian,  175 
Mastodon,  190 


INDEX 


273 


Mauretania,  The,  256,  259 
Max,  Gabriel,  215 
McGowan's  Pass,  75,  234 
McKinley,  President,  237 
Meissonnier,  221,  222 
Melon  Thistles,  139 
Meteors,  164-9 
Metropolitan  Museum,  69,  72, 

76,  194-231,  265 
Metsu,  228 

Mexican  archaeology,  193 
Miller's  Thumb,  44-45 
Millet,  214 
Mimosa  family,  142 
Minuit,  Peter,  8,  56,  260 
Moccasins,     Cotton  Mouth, 
110-1 

Moccasin,  Water,  111 
Mogul,  97 
Mohawks,  The,  21 
Mollusks,  49 
Monet,  225 
Monkeys,  88 

Montague's  Tavern,  19,  21 
Montanus,  quotation  from,  11 
Moon-fish,  39,  44 
Moose,  group  of,  177 
Moray,  Green,  50 
Morland,  Henry,  219 
Morningside  Park,  232,  234 
Morphological  Garden,  152 
Morris  House,  234 
Morris,  Roger,  233 
Mosque,  Prayer  in  a,  217 
Mosquitoes,  174 
Mountain  Goats,  126 
Mount  Washington,  233 
Mummies,  204-6 
Murillo,  227 
Murine  Opossum,  118 
Musk  Ox,  101 

N 

Nancy,  The,  21 
Napoleon,  222 

Napoleon,  at  St.  Helena,  220 


Narrows,  The,  6,  10,  22,  256, 

258,  260 
Nattier,  218 

Natural    History,  American 
Museum  of,  163-193,  .104 

Dinosaur  Hall,  185 

Mineral  Room,  192 

Synoptic  Hall,  170 
Navesink,  Highlands  of,  6 
Nepenthes,  144 
Nest,  big,  89 
Neuville,  De,  213 
New  Amsterdam,  11,  27,  239, 
259 

New  Amsterdam,  surrenders 

to  the  English,  14 
New  Nethcrland,  The,  7,  259 
New  York,  British  in,  23 

Congress  First,  23 

Dutch,  4-13 

English,  14-19 

ferries,  15 

ferry-boats,  25 

fire  in  181  r,  25 

gallows,  11,  24 

gardens,  18 

gas,  25 

gates,  10,  15 

Governor's  House  in,  16 
Government  House,  24 
Greater,  27 
greatness  of,  260 
houses  in,  14,  15,  18 
library,  first,  14 
Mall,  the,  16 
modern,  beginning  of,  25 
newspaper,  first,  14 
packet-boats,  15-16 
palisades  in,  10,  15 
Parade,  The,  16 
population  of,  14,  24,  25,  27 
omnibuses,  25 

Revolution,     during  and 

later,  19-28 
school,  first  grammar,  14 
size  of,  26 
stages  in,  15 
wealth  of,  25 


274 


INDEX 


New  York,  yellow  fever  epi- 
demic in,  25 
Nicholls,  Colonel,  14 
North  River,  238 
Notre-Dame,  model  of,  200-2 
Nursery,  Visit  to  the,  228 
Nutten  Island,  255,  259 

O 

Obelisk,  The,  69-71,  72,  76, 
202 

Ocean-gardens,  52 
Oleanders,  147 
Olive,  147 
Opuntia,  139 
Orchids,  147-150 
Orchid  House,  147-150 
Orchid-hunters,  149-50 
Ostriches,  119,  120,  181 
Otis,  James,  19 
Otters,  128-129 
Owen,   Professor,  quotation 
from,  187 

P 

Painting,  Art  of,  207 
Palisades,  The,  237,  238,  241 
Palm,  Fan,  147 
Palmetto,  147 
Palms,  134-5 
Parachute  flower,  147 
Paradoxure,  white  whiskered, 
116 

Papyrus  Reed,  143 
Park,  The,  24 
Park  Theatre,  24 
Parrots,  82 
Parrot's  feather,  143 
Parrot  Fish,  Blue,  39,  42 
Parrot  Fish,  Green,  39,  42 
Parthenon,  statues  of  the,  197, 
198 

Parthenon,  The,  106-8 
Patagonian  Fox,  116 
Paul  and  Virginia,  217 
Paulus  Hook,  257 


Pawpaw,  137 
Peacocks,  127 
Pearl  Street,  10,  16,  24 
Peary,  Commander,  107,  167 
Peary  Expeditions,  175,  177 
Penguins,  92-3 
Peruvian  collection,  185 
Phantom  ship,  The,  230/-42 
Pheasants,  127 
Phidias,  196 
Philodendron,  136 
Phoenix,  The,  22 
Pigeons,  84 
Pike,  45 
Pineapples,  144 
Pino,  Signor,  inventions  of. 
5i 

Pipe-fish,  48 
Pirates,  257 
Pitcher  plants,  144,  145 
Pitt,  William,  20 
Plants,  behavior  of,  155 

Breathing  of,  154-5 

Eating  of,  154,  155 

Economic,  159-60 

Education  of,  154,  156-7 

Insect  eating,  144 

Irritable,  145 

Protection  of  young,  156 

Sleep  of,  142,  154,  155 
Point-no-Point,  241 
Pollaiuolo,  209,  210 
Polly,  The,  20 
Poppy-Held,  225 
Porcupine,  118 
Porter,  Gen.  Horace,  237 
Portrait  painting,  211-212 
Prairie  Dogs,  126 
Prickly  Pear,  140 
Primitives,  pictures  by,  208-9, 
226 

Princesse  de  Conde,  218 
Province  Arms,  The,  23 
Ptarmagan,  179 
Puffer,  The,  46 
Pumas,  119 
Pumpkin  Seed,  45 
Putnam,  General,  232 


Python,  African  Rock,  107 
Python,  Regal,  107 

R 

Raccoons,  102 
Raccoon,  Crab-eating,  116 
Rameses  II.,  Bust  of,  203 
Ramie-plant,  143 
Ranelagh,  18 
Rattlesnakes,  no 
Red  Hook,  257 
Reindeer,  130 
Rhea,  121 

Rhinoceros,  The,  97 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  story  of, 
242-6 

River  of  the  Mountains,  238 
Riverside  Drive,  235-6 
Riverside  Park,  235-6 
Rose,  The,  22 
Rosemary  plants,  147 
Rosetta  Stone,  cast  of,  202 
Rubber-plants,  136 

S 

Sabella,  50 
Salmon,  39 
Sandhoppers,  36 
Sand  Dollar,  49 
Sandy  Hook,  6,  21,  22,  256, 
258 

Sardinian  Moufflon,  101,  131 
Scarab,  The,  204 
School  of  Art, 

Definition  of  a,  209, 
School,  American,  212 

English,  219 

Flemish,  226 

Florentine,  208 

French,  221 

Sienese,  208 

Vicenza,  209 
Schreyerstoren,  The,  9 
Scotland  Light  Ship,  256 
Screamers,  Crested,  123-124 
Screw-pines,  138 
Sculpture,  202,  206 


EX  275 

Sea,  bottom  of,  52 

Sea-creatures,  fantastic  ap- 
pearance of,  38-39 

Sea  gardens,  Bermuda,  40-41 

Sea-Horses,  37,  46-8 

Sea  Lions,  89 

Sea  Mew,  The,  8,  260 

Sea  Raven,  39,  44 

Sea  Robin,  39,  43 

Sea  Urchin,  49 

Sea-weeds,  160 

Seals,  West  Indian,  51 

Sears,  Isaac,  21 

Seneca  Chief,  The,  25 

Senna  family,  142 

Sensitive  Plant,  142 

Sequoia,  170 

Serpents,  105-106 

Serpula,  50 

Sheepshead,  45 

Shells,  193 

Shelley,  Giles,  257 

Sherman,  statue  of,  General, 
60 

Shooting-stars,  164-9 
Side-saddle  flowers,  145 
Silver  King,  104 
Sirius,  The,  258 
Skinks,  113 
Skunk  Cabbage,  143 
Snakes,  105-n 
Snakes,  Tiger,  no 
Snake,  Two  Headed,  108 
Snake,  Carpet,  no 
Snake,  Copperhead,  111 
Snake,  Diamond,  11 1 
Snakes,  Water,  no 
Soldiers  and  Sailors'  Monu- 
ment, 236 
Sons  of  Liberty,  19,  20,  21 
South  Ferry,  10 
Sozver,  The,  214 
Spider  Crab,  giant,  170 
Sponges,  172 
Spotted  Hind,  39,  42-43 
Spurges,  143,  153 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Kill,  238 
Squid,  Giant,  170-72 
Squirrel  Fish,  39,  43 


276 


INDEX 


Staten  Island,  256,  257 

Stadt  Huys,  15 

Stamp  Act,  The,  19,  20 

Stapelias,  138 

Star-fish,  49 

Stickleback,  45 

Stinking  Cedar,  145 

St.  Christopher,  209-10 

St.  John  the  Evangelist,  227 

St.  Nicholas  Church,  13,  259 

St.  Nicholas  Day,  13 

Stone  Crops,  140 

Storer  Collection,  193 

Storm,  The,  217 

Storm  Ship,  The,  241,  258 

Strand,  The,  10 

Stuart,  Gilbert,  211-12 

Student,  The  Idle,  21s 

Stuyvesant,  Governor,  14 

Submarine  boat,  51,  52 

Sugar  Cane,  143 

Sultana,  96 

Sun-dews,  145 

Sun-fish,  39,  45 

Surgeon,  42 

Swelifish,  46 

T 

Taj  Mahel,  236 
Tamandua,  119 
Tamarind,  142 
Tappan  Zee,  238,  241 
Tapirs,  98 

Tea,  Legend  of,  146 
Tea-plant,  146 
Tea  Ships,  21 
Tea- Water  Pump,  26 
Termites,  185 
Thebes,  203 
Thistle  family,  147 
Thomas  a  Becket,  211 
Tigers,  85 
Toad-fish,  39,  44 
Tories,  19 

Tortoises,  Giant,  111-112 
Totem-poles,  175 
Touracous,  82-83 


Toxodon,  191 
Trachodons,  188,  189 
Traveller's  Tree,  144 
Trees,  Old,  170 
Triceratops,  186 
Trinity  Church,  16,  24 
Trojan  War,  199-200 
Trunk  Fish,  39,  43 
Tube  Worm,  50 
Turkeys,  wild,  114 
Turner,  220,  221 
Turtle  Bay,  234 
Turtles,  37-8 
Turtles,  Elephant,  112 
Tv.  iller,  Wonter  van,  255 
Tyrannosaurus,  186,  189 
United  New  Netherland 
Company,  7 

V 

Vanderbilt,  W.  H.,  70 

Van  Dyck,  225 

Vanilla,  148 

Vauxhall,  18 

Veitch's  Tail  Flower,  136 

Venus's  Flower  Basket,  173 

Venus  Fly  Trap,  144 

Vermeer  of  Delft,  227 

Vicunias,  129 

Vinci,  Leonardo,  da,  225 

Vipers,  109 

Viper,  Sand,  109-10 

Viverrines,  116 

Volupte,  217-18 

W 

Wallabout  Bay,  257 
Wall  Street,  10,  15,  24 
Walruses,  177 
Walrus,  baby,  104 
War  of  1812-1815,  2=;,  31 
Washington,  General,  22,  23, 

233,  234,  235 
Washington,  Inauguration  of, 

23 


IN 

Washington.  George,  por- 
traits of,  212 

Washington.  General,  resi- 
dence of,  24 

Washington  Crossing  the 
Delaware,  212 

Washington  Heights,  73 

Water  Babies,  quotations 
from,  39,  41 

Waterfall.  152 

Water  Hyacinth.  143 

Water  Lettuce,  143 

Water  Lilies.  143.  15S 

Water  Poppy.  143 

Wayne,  General.  238 

Weaning  the  Calves,  216 

Weehawken,  241 

West  India  Company,  7.  S. 
9.  12 

\\  eepers   Tower,  9 
Whale  Ship,  The,  220.  221 
Whales.  183,  1S4 
Whigs,  19 
Whitehall.  10 

White  Plains.  Battle  of.  23$ 
Woman  Opening  a  \V\k:. 
227 

Woman  Writing  a  Letter, 
227 

Y 

Y.  The,  5  ( 

Yaguarundi  Cat.  115 
Yor.ghy  Bonghy  Bo.  quoted. 
112 

York,  Duke  of  14 
Z 

Zebras.  05 

Zoological  Park.  77-131.  175. 
177.  191.  203.  216.  261 
size  of.  So-Si 


EX 

Zoological  Park—  ( to  n fin  ■  td  ^ 
Alaskan  House,  114 
Antelope  House.  124-5 
A::::::;  Eiri  H  ruse.  04 
Baird  Court,  81.  89 
Bear  Dens.  102 
Beaver  Pond.  98-9 
Bird  House,  81-5 
Bronx  Lake.  77 
Buffalo  Entrance,  77 
Camel  House,  129 
Concourse  Entrance,  81 
Cope  Lake,  89 
Crotona  Entrance.  130 
Duck  Aviary.  90 
Elephant  House.  95-8 
E'.k  R^::ce.  130 
Flying  Cage.  90,  93,  94 
Fordham  Entrance,  89 
Lake  Agassiz,  81 
Lion  House,  85 
Llama  House,  129 
Mountain  Sheep  Hill.  101 
Ostrich  House.  119-24 
Otter  Pools,  128 
Pheasants  Aviary,  127 
For.y  Star.d.  04 
Primate  House.  88 
Race        i  ree.  *C2 
Reptile  House,  104-11,  114. 

150.  203 
Rocking  Stone  Restaurant, 

80.  99.  100 
Service  Road.  94  104 
Small  Deer  House.  125 
Small  Mammal  House.  115- 
19 

Tortoise  \ards.  104,  111-14 
T?:e:r.  Pole.  114 
Wild  Fowl  Pond.  127 
Wolf  and  Fox  Dens,  127 
Zebra  Houses.  04-5 
Zoophytes.   30-40.  '47.  173 
z.uycer  Zee.  5.  0 


